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Weary Zimbabweans brace for 2-day national
strike

International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: April 2,
2007

HARARE, Zimbabwe: Zimbabweans braced Monday for a two-day
national protest strike in the wake of a police crackdown on government
opponents, while police said they were sending reinforcements into the
streets.

Business leaders said, however, that the call to strike appeared
to have stirred little open emotion, as a wary calm descended in the
capital, Harare. Scores of businesses have shut down, and some main
factories were operating at reduced capacity.

Police reinforcements
were being deployed during the strike Tuesday and Wednesday, spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena said. Police also on Monday reported a 10th gasoline bombing in
the past month, and blamed it on opposition activists.

The main
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions called the strike to protest the country's
economic crisis, accusing the government of corruption and mismanagement
that fueled official inflation of nearly 1,700 percent - the highest rate in
the world - as well as 80 percent unemployment and acute shortages of food,
hard currency and gasoline.

The were no immediate reports of labor
officials canvassing for support that, before past strikes, had stoked
tensions and led to police searches, scuffles and arrests.

Labor
unions urged strikers to stay home, and planned no street demonstrations,
for fear of inciting police action.Bvudzijena said the planned strike had
been declared illegal, and that police were manning an increased number of
road blocks and were being "strategically deployed" at bus stations, outside
businesses and factories and at commuter transport ranks in townships to
stop intimidation of workers by labor activists, state radio reported
Monday.

He said police would protect people going to work and "going
about their legal business."

Executives at one Harare engineering
plant said its workers planned to ignore the strike because the lunch
provided in the canteen was the only daily meal they could rely on. Other
workers feared that participating in the strike would lead to their pay
being withheld.

Labor Minister Nicholas Goche, in a statement Monday,
accused the labor federation of "playing political games" in support of an
opposition-led defiance and civil disobedience campaign as well as a string
of alleged petrol bombing across the country.

"Individuals in the
ZCTU ... want labor to be seen participating in the current western backed
violence aimed regime change in Zimbabwe," he said.

"Employers are free
to deal with workers who choose to deliberately stay away from work," the
statement said, seen as effectively overriding labor laws preventing the
arbitrary firing of employees.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
top colleagues in the Movement for Democratic Change were hospitalized after
being beaten by police while in custody last month after police violently
stopped a Harare prayer meeting that had been declared an illegal political
protest.

President Robert Mugabe has admitted that Tsvangirai and least
40 opposition activists were beaten in custody, and warned protesters they
would be "bashed" again if violence continued - a reference to government
accusations that the opposition is to blame for a wave of unrest and petrol
bomb attacks, allegations the opposition has repeatedly
denied.

Fifteen opposition activists, nine of them ordered by a court to
receive medical attention during the weekend for injuries allegedly
inflicted by police, are scheduled to reappear in court Tuesday on
violence-related charges, their lawyers said.

U.N. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. was "very much concerned about the situation" in
Zimbabwe.

"It is necessary for the leaders of the Zimbabwean government
to strictly abide by all democratic rules, to firmly establish democratic
rules again," Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Zim central bank funds opposition
crackdown

Zim Online

Tuesday 03 April 2007

By Regerai
Marwezu

MASVINGO - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is bankrolling a
government crackdown on the opposition, paying billions of dollars in
allowances and bonuses to police crack squads that have crushed
anti-government protests and assaulted opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
and his followers.

Sources in the police and at the RBZ said part of the
money provided last month by the central bank for use by the police and
which they said ran into several billions of dollars would be used to
retrain the police's anti-riot squads in anticipation of possible
opposition-led anti-President Robert Mugabe mass protests.

"Officers
were paid a gratuity of one million dollars each from the money provided by
the RBZ after we successfully stopped the MDC (opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party) rally at Zimbabwe Grounds in February," said a
senior police officer, who declined to be named fearing possible reprisals
from his superiors.

Dozens of MDC supporters were last February injured
and property worth millions of dollars destroyed when heavily armed police
descended on supporters of the opposition party beating them up and forcing
them to disperse from Zimbabwe Grounds in Harare's Highfield suburb where
they had gathered for a meeting.

The police stopped the MDC even
though the High Court had issued an order permitting the opposition party to
hold the meeting. Days after breaking the rally, the police imposed a ban on
political meetings and protests in Harare and its dormitory Chitungwiza
city.

According to our source, police officers on duty in Harare to
enforce the ban on political activity by the opposition are paid a daily
allowance of Z$100 000, a hefty sum given the average salary of a police
constable of about $380 000 per month.

RBZ governor Gideon Gono on
Monday confirmed releasing "some funds" to the Ministry of Home Affairs
under which the police falls. But the central bank chief professed ignorance
as to how the money was used, referring all questions to Home Affairs
Minister Kembo Mohadi.

"We released some funds to the Ministry of Home
Affairs last month (March) part of which was used by the Registrar General's
office. Some of the money was used for other purposes details of which you
can get from the responsible ministry," Gono told ZimOnline.

Mohadi
refused to take questions on the matter saying he did not discuss security
issues with the Press. "I cannot comment on such issues even if they are
true," he said before switching off his phone.

The government, battling
to keep public discontent in check in the face of worsening economic
hardships, has over the past weeks intensified pressure on the MDC and the
opposition party's civic society allies.

Police hit squads have over the
past few days abducted MDC and civic society activists in the dead of the
night and beaten them in many cases to within an inch of their
lives.

Nine MDC activists arrived at a Harare court last Saturday with
severe injuries after four days in police custody. The magistrate had to
adjourn proceedings to allow the opposition activists to be taken to
hospital for treatment after two of them collapsed in court.

The
police allege the MDC activists are behind a spate of petrol bomb attacks
against police stations and a train in Harare and other cities.

The MDC
denies it is behind the firebombing incidents, which it says were
orchestrated by government agents in a bid to find an excuse to clamp down
on the opposition party.

Mugabe has publicly defended the police for
assaulting his opponents and boasted that a Southern African Development
Community summit last week had backed his government's controversial
treatment of the opposition.

The regional summit, which many had hoped
would push Mugabe harder to stop persecuting opponents and that he quits
power when his term expires next year, appeared to let the Zimbabwean leader
off the hook when it failed to publicly condemn repression by the Harare
government.

SADC leaders instead appealed for the lifting of Western
sanctions against Mugabe and his top officials and also said they had
appointed South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between the Harare
administration and the MDC. - ZimOnline

Hard-pressed Zimbabweans, who at times
have to endure daily changes in prices of basic goods, will pay 350 percent
more for electricity from the beginning of this month. Tariffs will go up by
120 percent from the 1st of June and 50 percent from the 1st of October to
bring the compound increase to 520 percent.

Zimbabwe Electricity
Regulatory Authority Commissioner General Mavis Chidzonga said the tariff
hike was because of "soaring generation, transmission and distribution
costs".

"The commission also considered the cost of importing an average
35 percent of Zimbabwe 's electricity requirements from regional utilities.
Importing electricity is inevitable as local generation capacity is
insufficient to cover the national maximum demand of around 2100MW during
winter," said Chidzonga.

The business sector welcomed the tariff hike
expressing hope that by charging cost-reflective tariffs ZESA would be able
to operate profitably and ensure more reliable supplies to
consumers.

"Industry is prepared to pay cost reflective tariffs if that
will help solve the power outages we are facing," said Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries president Calisto Jokonya.

But the tariff hike is
sure to trigger price increases across the board, pushing inflation which
at 1 730 percent is the highest in the world, to even greater heights and
making it more difficult for the majority of Zimbabweans to feed their
families.

Zimbabwe's economic crisis has also seen the country facing
shortages of food, fuel, essential medicines, hard cash and just about every
basic survival commodity.

Western governments and the main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change party blame the crisis on repression and
wrong policies by President Robert Mugabe such as his seizure of productive
white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.

Mugabe
denies ruining Zimbabwe's economy and instead claims his country's problems
are because of sabotage by Western governments out to punish Harare for
seizing land from whites. - ZimOnline

Strikes Widen Among Zimbabwe University Lecturers, Other
Groups

VOA

By Carole Gombakomba Washington 02 April
2007

A new wave of strikes has continued to widen across
Zimbabwe, threatening a repeat of the labor crisis which faced the
government of President Robert Mugabe earlier this year at a point in the
economic crisis when it can ill afford to raise wages further.

A
strike by university lecturers has spread to all 13 of the country's state
universities, though talks were in progress between university councils and
representatives of the lecturers, said State University Union of Academics
President Benjamin Njekeya.

At the primary and secondary school
level, the Progressive Teachers Union said it has started to lobby the
government for another salary review this month as the gains the teachers
secured in February were quickly devoured by hyperinflation. Inflation in
Zimbabwe was last measured at a cumulative annual rate of
1,730%.

Teachers earn an average monthly salary of Z$518,000, but the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says a family of six needs some Z$700,000 to
meet essential needs.

Doctors and nurses in the public hospital
system are also walking off the job again.

Doctors and nurses who
were promised a 300%-500% salary increase early this year have recently seen
their salaries inexplicably reduced by half or more.

Economist Anthony
Hawkins, a professor at the University of Zimbabwe Graduate School of
Management, told reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that the government is falling behind the inflationary wave.

U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe says state
violence continues unabated

International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: April 2,
2007

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa: A wave of state orchestrated
violence continues unabated in Zimbabwe, despite an admission by President
Robert Mugabe to southern African counterparts that his security forces were
overreacting, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe said Monday.

U.S.
Ambassador Christopher Dell said that presidents from southern African
countries meeting last week behind closed doors in Tar Es Salaam, Tanzania,
told Mugabe his police had been excessive in beating and torturing
government opponents.

The summit called Thursday by the Southern
African Development Community appointed South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki
to mediate a solution to Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, Dell said
in a telephone interview from Zimbabwe's capital, Harare,

However,
Dell said he was "skeptical about the prospects of this initiative leading
to anything like a positive outcome," considering the past performance of
Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" with Zimbabwe.

Citing sources at the meeting,
Dell said the presidents had been hard on Mugabe. "He was criticized in
particular for the police using violence inside the police stations," Dell
said, referring to the March 11 beatings and torture of opposition Movement
for Democratic Reform activists, including opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai.

But the presidents' failure to make their criticism
public showed the limit of the South African Development Community's ability
to play a constructive goal."None of this means anything if in public
they are going to say nothing and thereby let him control the story," Dell
said. "So he came out of the meeting and claimed total victory and nobody
dared to contradict him."

Dell said that, based on information from his
sources at the meeting, Mugabe acknowledged that his security forces had
overreacted, especially in beating Tsvangirai.

The U.S. ambassador
also said that, "as far as we are aware, the wave of state orchestrated
violence - including abductions, beatings, torture and the unconfirmed but
possible killings of MDC activists - continues unabated."

Nine people
arrested last week in police raids on opposition headquarters and activists'
homes were hospitalized after being beaten while in custody over the
weekend, Dell said, noting the alleged abuses took place after the meeting
of presidents in Tanzania.

"The state has clearly unleashed its thugs and
sort of given them license to follow their worst instincts," Dell
said.

Civilians' resolve to resist the oppression, meanwhile, is
constantly growing, Dell said, noting a pastoral letter by the Catholic
Bishops Conference that was read at churches throughout the country
Sunday.

The bishops said in the letter that, soon after Zimbabwe gained
independence from Britain in 2000, the wealth and power of an elite group of
whites was appropriated by equally exclusive blacks, some of whom have since
governed the country through political patronage.

"Black Zimbabweans
today fight for the same basic rights they fought for during the liberation
struggle," when Zimbabwe was called Rhodesia, the bishops wrote.

The
bishops said people "feel they have nothing more to lose because their
constitutional rights have been abrogate and their votes
rigged.

"Many people in Zimbabwe are angry, and their anger is now
erupting into open revolt in one township after another," the bishops
wrote.

Dell said Mugabe had managed last week to ram through his
nomination as ruling ZANU-PF party candidate in next year's elections, with
little debate - proving "he had the ability to sort of manipulate the party
at will."

Given the result - that Mugabe will likely run in a March
2008 election - everyone, particularly the opposition, should start now
focusing on the campaign.

The opposition needs to step into the race,
Dell said, noting Tsvangirai's vow to boycott the election if no reforms
were instituted to guarantee a free and fair vote. "This is the third go
around of this in the three years I have been here. Every time there is an
election, the MDC does this 'to run or not to run act.'"

As a result,
when they do decide to contest an election, they are not prepared, Dell
said.

In the interview with AP, Dell also denied the U.S. government had
given any weapons to the opposition, and also denied claims by the
Zimbabwean government that the U.S. was encouraging opposition activists to
incite violence.

"Of course it is absurd. It is patent nonsense,"
Dell said, expressing skepticism that the government had found any weapons
in its raids.

"The government has access to an arsenal," Dell said,
suggesting it could have planted weapons if it wanted to do so. "The
government's whole game from start to finish is to blame the victims" and
condone police actions as a reaction to government violence

Dell said
he himself continued to be threatened by the government for speaking out
about conditions in Zimbabwe. "They say they'll consider it unwarranted
interference, and they will throw me out."

Special police force called in ahead of Zimbabwe
strike

Zimbabwean police have asked a special police branch to
maintain order during Tuesday's two-day general strike called by the
country's main labour body, a spokesperson said.

"The
National Reaction Force, which has been activated, will be deployed in all
problem areas to ensure that there is law and order during this illegal
stayaway," police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said in a
statement.

The special task force deals with "emergency
situations" and includes a military component as well as
police.

Bvudzijena said the Zimbabwe Republic Police would
ensure there was peace, safety and security during the
strike.

"The organisation is therefore determined to ensure
that peace prevails during the so-called mass stayaway called by the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions [ZCTU] tomorrow
[Tuesday]."

He said commuters, business and industry would be
protected through strategic deployments at bus-boarding points, shopping
centres and industrial areas.

There would also be
increased roadblocks. He urged people to cooperate with officers on patrol
or manning the roadblocks.

On Friday the ZCTU said the
decision to embark on a general shutdown on Tuesday and Wednesday was taken
after the government's failure to respond to concerns about the worsening
economic crisis in a country where 80% of people are jobless and inflation
stands at 1 730%.

Labour officials said government must take
steps to address the economic meltdown, adding that authorities had failed
to resolve workers' demands for a minimum wage. -- Sapa-AFP

Zimbabwe police say job protest cover for violence

Reuters

Mon 2 Apr
2007, 16:02 GMT

HARARE, April 2 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's police accused the
country's main labour movement on Monday of stoking violence with a planned
national job boycott and warned they would fully deploy their forces in
preparation for the protest.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) says a majority of its union affiliates have signed up for a two-day
"national stay-away" beginning on Tuesday to pressure President Robert
Mugabe's government to meet its demands for better wages and conditions amid
an economic crisis there.

The unions opted for the job protest instead of
street marches due to fears of violent reprisals from security forces, ZCTU
officials said.

But Zimbabwean police, who the opposition says beat
dozens of their activists after arresting them following an aborted
anti-Mugabe rally in Harare last month, said the union was using its
influence for violent means.

"Judging from previous demonstrations by the
ZCTU we believe the call by the organisation to stay away is an avenue ...
to foment acts of violence on innocent citizens in the guise of job
actions," police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said in a statement.

"The
National Reaction Force, which has since been activated, will be deployed in
all problem areas to ensure that there is law and order during this illegal
ZCTU stayaway."

He said anyone seen coercing others to boycott would be
arrested, although he added it was not a crime to stay home from
work.

The ZCTU wants a monthly minimum wage of 1 million Zimbabwe dollars
(about $4,000 at official rates but worth $50 on the black market) for
workers, as well as steps by the government to address an economic meltdown
in the southern African country.

Zimbabwe is struggling with
inflation of more than 1,700 percent -- the highest in the world outside a
war zone -- soaring unemployment and chronic shortages of food, fuel and
foreign currency.

Critics accuse Mugabe and his government of widespread
economic mismanagement. The 83-year-old ruler says the problems are the
result of sabotage by Western nations, primarily Britain, who are upset over
his seizures of white-owned farms.

The ZCTU also wants the government
to increase access to anti-retroviral HIV drugs. Zimbabwe has one of the
worst HIV epidemics in the southern Africa region.

The ZCTU's calls
for strikes over labour and social issues in recent years have largely
failed due to government intimidation and workers' fears of losing their
jobs in a country with 80-percent unemployment, analysts said.

Tsvangirai calls on South Africa to act soon on
Zimbabwe

Times OnlineApril 2, 2007

Jonathan Clayton, JohannesburgMorgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's
embattled opposition leader, today signalled an apparent change of tactics
in his ongoing confrontation with President Robert Mugabe and his brutal
Zanu-PF regime.

Mr Tsvangirai, who arrived unexpectedly in Johannesburg
for medical treatment, struck a notably much more conciliatory tone than in
recent declarations and called on South African President Thabo Mbeki to act
quickly to defuse the crisis across the border.

"It is critical that
President Mbeki act quickly and decisively to halt the suffering of millions
of Zimbabweans. There is no time to waste," Mr Tsvangirai told a hastily
convened press conference.

Mr Tsvangirai, who apparently had no
difficulty leaving Zimbabwe and planned to return after medical check-ups,
appeared to be at pains to prevent a general strike in Zimbabwe from further
increasing political tensions. He indicated he would be willing to take part
in talks even while Mr Mugabe was still officially the Zanu-PF candidate for
Presidential elections next year - a key reversal of previous
policy.

President Mbeki, frequently criticised for failing to talk tough
to his neighbour, was last week appointed by fellow leaders in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) to mediate in the Zimbabwean crisis - a
development dismissed by some as window-dressing, but seen as a critical new
departure by insiders.Mr Mbeki is mandated to ensure that next year's
Presidential elections are "free and fair". The SADC decision represented
the first time the regional grouping had taken any concrete initiative on
Zimbabwe. Diplomatic sources say it was accompanied by the bluntest behind
closed doors criticism Mr Mugabe has ever received.

"Mugabe was left
in no doubt the situation could not continue and his explanation for the
attack on the opposition was not accepted," said one highly-placed Southern
African diplomatic source. He dismissed a statement expressing solidarity
with Mr Mugabe and calling for a lifting of western sanctions as simply "a
face-saving exercise for the old man".

Mr Tsvangirai, whose ability as a
leader has always been questioned by key figures in the ruling African
National Congress (ANC), went out of his way to reject suggestions that
President Mbeki was not "an honest broker" and said he had every confidence
the South African leader would approach the crisis with "a new
perspective".

"This is not a personal issue. Whether people have doubts
about Mbeki is immaterial. This is a new initiative that is not South
African driven but regionally driven," he said in comments which indicated
he had fallen in line with the new policy.

"Tsvangirai knows he
cannot oppose the region on this," the source added.

Leading western
nations are more than willing to drop sanctions as part of an all-inclusive
package of measures ensuring free and fair elections next year - the goal Mr
Mbeki is now set to try and achieve with the support of all regional states,
opposition figures, and civil society and church groups.

Immediately
on his return to Harare, Mr Mugabe, 83, was chosen as Zanu7-PF's candidate
for the poll. Insiders rejected the move as little more than grand standing
by party loyalists, terrified of taking any other decision. Zanu-PF factions
known to oppose Mr Mugabe will not do so publicly until they are assured of
broader outside support.

Mr Tsvangirai and other opposition activists
were brutally assaulted while in custody after police broke up a prayer
meeting on March 11. There were concerns that Mr Tsvangirai, still with a
bloodshot eye and bruised face, suffered a fractured
skull.

Opposition activists have since continued to be detained,
assaulted and abducted in a crackdown by special police units amid reports
of growing unease in regular police and army units.

He called
on the South African President, who has put together a high-level mediation
team, to negotiate the conditions for next year's elections in Zimbabwe.
"Mugabe has a last opportunity to show goodwill by allowing the people of
Zimbabwe to express their democratic rights," he said.

Mr Mbeki is known
to want to negotiate a settlement to the crisis which all sides must then
respect.

Journalist in bad shape
after police assaults

HARARE - Freelance
journalist Gift Phiri is reportedly in bad shape after he was severely
assaulted while in police custody following his arrest in Harare on 1 April
2007.

According to reliable sources MISA-Zimbabwe understands that Phiri
who is being detained at Harare Central Police Station can hardly sit as a
result of the beatings he was subjected to following his arrest and
subsequent detention.

MISA-Zimbabwe has been reliably informed that
his interrogators are demanding the disclosure of the sources of the stories
published in The Zimbabwean for which he strings as a freelance journalist.
The police are alleged to have searched and confiscated a computer and
compact discs from his home.

Rangu Nyamurundira of the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights was this morning denied access to the detained
journalist by police at Harare Central Police Station.

Phiri who
freelances for The Zimbabwean which is published in London , was arrested at
Sunningdale Shopping Centre on Sunday afternoon. He was briefly taken to
Sunningdale Police Post before being transferred to Harare Central Police
Station.

Alec Muchadehama who is representing Phiri confirmed that the
freelance journalist was being detained by officers from the Law and Order
Section at Harare Central Police Station. Muchadehama was not yet in a
position to shed light on the events and details leading to Phiri's arrest
as he was still to have access to his client.

Recommended
Action

MISA-Zimbabwe notes with great concern and condemns in no
uncertain terms the increase in the number of cases involving the wanton
arrests, detention and assault of journalists going about their lawful and
professional duties and demands that:

- the police should immediately
grant lawyers representing Phiri access to their client.the charges that
Phiri is facing should be availed to his lawyers.

- the journalist should
immediately be produced before the courts as a matter of urgency in view of
the reports that he has been severely assaulted.

- the government
through the Ministry of Information should make its position clear regarding
the wanton, arrests, detention and torture of journalists who are duly
accredited to conduct their professional duties in terms of the repressive
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

- the
police or any other security agents for that matter should desist from the
wanton arrest, detention and torture of journalists going about their lawful
duties and that those who are responsible for these actions will personally
be held accountable for their actions as the crime of torture is an
international crime that attracts individual criminal
responsibility.

Of great concern to MISA-Zimbabwe is the fact that
Phiri's arrest comes hard on the heels of that of freelance journalist Frank
Chikowore and barely weeks after the African Commission on Human and
Peoples' Rights' Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Advocate Pansy
Tlakula, sent an urgent appeal to President Robert Mugabe regarding the
deteriorating situation on freedom of expression in Zimbabwe.

Her
complaint to President Mugabe followed the severe assault and unlawful
detention on 11 March 2007 of Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Tendai Musiyazviriyo,
a photojournalist and film producer who respectively freelance for
Associated Press, when the police disrupted a national day of prayer meeting
at Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, Harare .

In light of these
developments, MISA-Zimbabwe is left with no option but to request the
Special Rapporteur to urgently intervene once more and urge President Robert
Mugabe to guarantee the security of journalists and other freedom of
expression activists.

MISA-Zimbabwe requests that you send your letters
of protests demanding the release of Phiri to the following
addresses.

Tsvangirai hopeful on Zimbabwe, urges pressure

Reuters

Mon 2 Apr 2007,
15:32 GMT

By Gershwin Wanneburg

JOHANNESBURG, April 2 (Reuters) -
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Monday welcomed a new push to solve
Zimbabwe's political crisis, but urged outsiders to maintain pressure on the
government to avoid any escalation of violence.

Tsvangirai said his
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was optimistic after a summit in
Tanzania last week appointed South African President Thabo Mbeki as mediator
between the MDC and President Robert Mugabe's government.

But he warned
his African nations to be "wary" of Mugabe and any pledges by his government
to embrace reform, and said his party would only take part in elections next
year provided they were free and fair.

"Only a government with democratic
legitimacy -- elected no later than 2008 -- can reverse Zimbabwe's slide
into catastrophe" said Tsvangirai.

"I would hope that the international
community would use the multilateral institutions to put pressure on the
regime," said Tsvangirai, who has accused Mugabe of rigging a series of
polls going back to 2002.

The MDC leader, in Johannesburg to receive
medical attention for injuries he said were inflicted by Mugabe's security
forces, said Mbeki must "act quickly and decisively to halt the suffering of
millions of Zimbabweans".

"Let's look at 2004 when there were these talks
about talks. It's Mugabe who scuttled them ... because he was not interested
in any negotiation, in any solution," he told reporters.

"This time
around I think President Mbeki must be wary not to be led through a garden
path of Mugabe pretending to go through some process of negotiations but
with an intention of scuttling those talks."

MBEKI NAMED

The
Southern African Development Community (SADC) named Mbeki to mediate
following a summit last week, which was convened in the wake of the
Zimbabwean government's violent March 11 crackdown on political
opponents.

Tsvangirai and dozens of others were arrested and reportedly
beaten after an aborted prayer rally in the capital Harare, prompting sharp
condemnation from the United States, Britain and other Western
nations.

A United Nations human rights special investigator on Monday
accused Mugabe's government of effectively instructing security forces to
use lethal force against opponents and said they could one day be held
accountable in international courts.

SADC, which has been criticised
for turning a blind eye to Mugabe's crackdown, hopes its appointment of
Mbeki, who has used his influence to mediate in other African conflicts,
will lead to talks between Mugabe and the MDC.

Tsvangirai said he had
"no doubt" Mbeki would act with SADC's full backing and that it could lend
the initiative force.

Mugabe, Zimbabwe's only ruler since independence
from Britain in 1980, has been accused by the West of authoritarian rule and
economic mismanagement, which has left the country struggling with the
world's highest inflation rate, soaring unemployment and regular food and
fuel shortages.

Mugabe says he is being punished for seizing white-owned
farms to give to landless blacks, accusing Western countries led by Britain
of seeking to use the MDC to effect "regime change" in
Harare.

Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday brushed aside the Western
criticism and endorsed the 83-year-old leader as its candidate for elections
expected in 2008 -- a move that could see him remain in office through
2013.

Hit squads beat
'undesirables' to a bloody pulp

Hit squads have been formed to target opposition politicians branded
"undesirables" by the state, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
said this week.

"It reminds of [Nicolai] Ceaucescu,"
said opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, referring to the former president
of Romania, on Wednesday. "That's the mark of a dictator; that's how he
deals with his political opponents," he told the Mail & Guardian just
before police arrested him and 20 other MDC
activists.

Tsvangirai was due to hold a press
conference to denounce recent human rights violations and the formation of
the hit squads, which the MDC says are "coordinated by state security
agents".

It says these "developments leave no one in
any doubt that tyranny has taken root in Harare and SADC leaders need to
take a solid position on the deteriorating situation in the country. The
region owes it to posterity to rein in [President Robert]
Mugabe."

Opposition activists are being abducted,
tortured or beaten to a pulp as the repression of dissenting voices reaches
new levels. Mugabe warned last week that his government will heavily arm the
police. The Zanu- PF youth league declared it will "take the law into our
own hands" against the opposition.

"It was common
in Latin America and Asian countries where there was a dictator," said John
Makumbe, University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer. "In Africa, Idi
Amin used hit squads against opponents and former Malawi leader Kamuzi Banda
used hit squads to kill his ministers," Makumbe said. "We are already taking
that route."

Nelson Chamisa, the spokes-person for the
MDC, said this week that 116 activists had been abducted throughout the
country in the past two weeks, while others have "just been beaten and left
for dead".

Pastoral Letter by the
Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference

GOD HEARS THE CRY OF THE OPPRESSED

on the Current Crisis of Our
Country

Holy Thursday, 5 April 2007

As your Shepherds we
have reflected on our national situation and, in the light of the Word of
God and Christian Social Teaching, have discerned what we now share with
you, in the hope of offering guidance, light and hope in these difficult
times.

The Crisis

The people of Zimbabwe are
suffering. More and more people are getting angry, even from among those who
had seemed to be doing reasonably well under the circumstances. The reasons
for the anger are many, among them, bad governance and corruption. A tiny
minority of the people have become very rich overnight, while the majority
are languishing in poverty, creating a huge gap between the rich and the
poor. Our Country is in deep crisis. A crisis is an unstable situation of
extreme danger and difficulty. Yet, it can also be turned into a moment of
grace and of a new beginning, if those responsible for causing the crisis
repent, heed the cry of the people and foster a change of heart and mind
especially during the imminent Easter Season, so our Nation can rise to new
life with the Risen Lord.

In Zimbabwe today, there are Christians
on all sides of the conflict; and there are many Christians sitting on the
fence. Active members of our Parish and Pastoral Councils are prominent
officials at all levels of the ruling party. Equally distinguished and
committed office-bearers of the opposition parties actively support church
activities in every parish and diocese. They all profess their loyalty to
the same Church. They are all baptised, sit and pray and sing together in
the same church, take part in the same celebration of the Eucharist and
partake of the same Body and Blood of Christ. While the next day, outside
the church, a few steps away, Christian State Agents, policemen and
soldiers assault and beat peaceful, unarmed demonstrators and torture
detainees. This is the unacceptable reality on the ground, which shows much
disrespect for human life and falls far below the dignity of both the
perpetrator and the victim.

In our prayer and reflection during
this Lent, we have tried to understand the reasons why this is so. We have
concluded that the crisis of our Country is, in essence, a crisis of
governance and a crisis of leadership apart from being a spiritual and moral
crisis.

A Crisis of Governance

The
national health system has all but disintegrated as a result of prolonged
industrial action by medical professionals, lack of drugs, essential
equipment in disrepair and several other factors.

In the
educational sector, high tuition fees and levies, the lack of teaching and
learning resources, and the absence of teachers have brought activities in
many public schools and institutions of higher education to a standstill.
The number of students forced to terminate their education is increasing
every month. At the same time, Government interference with the provision of
education by private schools has created unnecessary tension and
conflict.

Public services in Zimbabwe's towns and cities have
crumbled. Roads, street lighting, water and sewer reticulation are in a
state of severe disrepair to the point of constituting an acute threat to
public health and safety, while the collection of garbage has come to a
complete standstill in many places. Unabated political interference with the
work of democratically elected Councils is one of the chief causes of this
breakdown.

The erosion of the public transport system has
negatively affected every aspect of our Country's economy and social life.
Horrific accidents claim the lives of dozens of citizens each
month.

Almost two years after the Operation Murambatsvina,
thousands of victims are still without a home. That inexcusable injustice
has not been forgotten.

Following a radical land reform programme
seven years ago, many people are today going to bed hungry and wake up to a
day without work. Hundreds of companies were forced to close. Over 80 per
cent of the people of Zimbabwe are without employment. Scores risk their
lives week after week in search of work in neighbouring
countries.

Inflation has soared to over 1,600 per cent, and
continues to rise, daily. It is the highest in the world and has made the
life of ordinary Zimbabweans unbearable, regardless of their political
preferences. We are all concerned for the turnaround of our economy but this
will remain a dream unless corruption is dealt with severely irrespective of
a person's political or social status or connections.

The
list of justified grievances is long and could go on for many
pages.

The suffering people of Zimbabwe are groaning in agony:
"Watchman, how much longer the night"? (Is 21:11)

A Crisis of
Moral Leadership

The crisis of our Country is, secondly, a crisis
of leadership. The burden of that crisis is borne by all Zimbabweans, but
especially the young who grow up in search of role models. The youth are
influenced and formed as much by what they see their elders doing as by what
they hear and learn at school or from their peers.

If our
young people see their leaders habitually engaging in acts and words which
are hateful, disrespectful, racist, corrupt, lawless, unjust, greedy,
dishonest and violent in order to cling to the privileges of power and
wealth, it is highly likely that many of them will behave in exactly the
same manner. The consequences of such overtly corrupt leadership as we are
witnessing in Zimbabwe today will be with us for many years, perhaps
decades, to come. Evil habits and attitudes take much longer to rehabilitate
than

to acquire. Being elected to a position of leadership should not
be misconstrued as a licence to do as one pleases at the expense of the will
and trust of the electorate.

A Spiritual and Moral
Crisis

Our crisis is not only political and economic but first
and foremost a spiritual and moral crisis. As the young independent nation
struggles to find its common national spirit, the people of Zimbabwe are
reacting against the "structures of sin" in our society. Pope John Paul II
says that the "structures of sin" are "rooted in personal sin, and thus
always linked to the concrete acts of individuals who introduce these
structures, consolidate them and make them difficult to remove. And thus
they grow stronger, spread, and become the source of other sins, and so
influence people's behaviour." The Holy Father stresses that in order to
understand the reality that confronts us, we must "give a name to the root
of the evils which afflict us." That is what we have done in this Pastoral
Letter.

The Roots of the Crisis

The present crisis
in our Country has its roots deep in colonial society. Despite the rhetoric
of a glorious socialist revolution brought about by the armed struggle, the
colonial structures and institutions of pre-independent Zimbabwe continue to
persist in our society. None of the unjust and oppressive security laws of
the Rhodesian State have been repealed; in fact, they have been reinforced
by even more repressive legislation, the Public Order and Security Act and
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, in particular. It
almost appears as though someone sat down with the Declaration of Human
Rights and deliberately scrubbed out each in turn.

Why was
this done? Because soon after Independence, the power and wealth of the tiny
white Rhodesian elite was appropriated by an equally exclusive black elite,
some of whom have governed the country for the past 27 years through
political patronage. Black Zimbabweans today fight for the same basic rights
they fought for during the liberation struggle. It is the same conflict
between those who possess power and wealth in abundance, and those who do
not; between those who are determined to maintain their privileges of power
and wealth at any cost, even at the cost of bloodshed, and those who demand
their democratic rights and a share in the fruits of independence; between
those who continue to benefit from the present system of inequality and
injustice, because it favours them and enables them to maintain an
exceptionally high standard of living, and those who go to bed hungry at
night and wake up in the morning to another day without work and without
income; between those who only know the language of violence and
intimidation, and those who feel they have nothing more to lose because
their Constitutional rights have been abrogated and their votes rigged. Many
people in Zimbabwe are angry, and their anger is now erupting into open
revolt in one township after another.

The confrontation in
our Country has now reached a flashpoint. As the suffering population
becomes more insistent, generating more and more pressure through boycotts,
strikes, demonstrations and uprisings, the State responds with ever harsher
oppression through arrests, detentions, banning orders, beatings and
torture. In our judgement, the situation is extremely volatile. In order to
avoid further bloodshed and avert a mass uprising the nation needs a new
people driven Constitution that will guide a democratic leadership chosen in
free and fair elections that will offer a chance for economic recovery under
genuinely new policies.

Our Message of Hope: God is always on the
Side of the Oppressed

The Bible has much to say about situations
of confrontation. The conflict between the oppressor and the oppressed is a
central theme throughout the Old and New Testaments. Biblical scholars have
discovered that there are no less than twenty different root words in Hebrew
to describe oppression.

One example is the Creed of the chosen
people, which we read on the First Sunday of Lent: "My Father was a homeless
Aramaean. He went down to Egypt to find refuge there, few in numbers; but
there he became a nation, great, mighty and strong. The Egyptians
ill-treated us, they gave us no peace and inflicted harsh slavery on us. But
we called on the Lord, the God of our fathers. The Lord heard our voice and
saw our misery, our toil and our oppression; and the Lord brought us out of
Egypt with mighty hand and outstretched arm, with great terror, and with
signs and wonders. . "(Deut 26:5b-8).

The Bible describes
oppression in concrete and vivid terms: Oppression is the experience of
being crushed, degraded, humiliated, exploited, impoverished, defrauded,
deceived and enslaved. And the oppressors are described as cruel, ruthless,
arrogant, greedy, violent and tyrannical; they are called 'the enemy'. Such
words could only have been used by people who in their own lives and history
had an immediate and personal experience of being oppressed. To them Yahweh
revealed himself as the God of compassion who hears the cry of the oppressed
and who liberates them from their oppressors. The God of the Bible is always
on the side of the oppressed. He does not reconcile Moses and Pharaoh, or
the Hebrew slaves with their Egyptian oppressors. Oppression is sin and
cannot be compromised with. It must be overcome. God takes sides with the
oppressed. As we read in Psalm 103:6: "God, who does what is right, is
always on the side of the oppressed".

When confronted with the
politically powerful, Jesus speaks the language of the boldest among
Israel's prophets. He calls Herod 'that fox' (Lk13:32) and courageously
exposes the greed for money, power and adulation of the political elite. And
he warns his disciples never to do likewise: "Among the gentiles it is the
kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are
given the title Benefactor. With you this must not happen. No, the greatest
among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were
the one who serves" (Lk 22:25-27). And he warns Pilate in no uncertain terms
that he will be held to account by God for his use of power over life and
death (John 19:11).

Throughout the history of the Church,
persecuted Christians have remembered, prayed and sung the prophetic words
of Mary: "[The Lord] has used the power of his arm, he has routed the
arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised
high the lowly. He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich
away empty" (Lk1:50-53).

Generations of Zimbabweans, too,
throughout their own long history of oppression and their struggle for
liberation, have remembered, prayed and sung these texts from the Old and
New Testaments and found strength, courage and perseverance in their faith
that Jesus is on their side. That is the message of hope we want to convey
in this Pastoral Letter: God is on your side. He always hears the cry of the
poor and oppressed and saves them.

Conclusion

We conclude
our Pastoral Letter by affirming with a clear and unambiguous Yes our
support of morally legitimate political authority. At the same time we say
an equally clear and unambiguous No to power through violence, oppression
and intimidation. We call on those who are responsible for the current
crisis in our Country to repent and listen to the cry of their citizens. To
the people of Zimbabwe we appeal for peace and restraint when expressing
their justified grievances and demonstrating for their human
rights.

Words call for concrete action, for symbols and
gestures which keep our hope alive. We therefore invite all the faithful to
a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Zimbabwe, on Saturday, 14 April 2007. This
will be followed by a Prayer Service for Zimbabwe, on Friday, every week, in
all parishes of our Country. As for the details, each Diocese will make
known its own arrangements.

May the Peace and Hope of the Risen
Lord be with you always. Happy
Easter.

PRAYER
FOR OUR COUNTRY

God Our Father,

You have given all peoples
one common origin,

And your will is to gather them as one family in
yourself.

Give compassion to our leaders, integrity to our citizens, and
repentance to us all.

Help Requested

Hello All.

First - A very big Thank You to
everyone who has aready made a Contribution and Donation towards Mary Burkes
visit to Australia.

Some of you may know of Dennis and Mary Burke from
the lowveld ( Chz / Triangle Zimbabwe ) - and their children , one of whom is
Patrick aged 25 . Patrick was diagnosed with a Brain tumor and has to undergo
approx. 6 weeks of Radiation treatment, having recently undergone brain surgery
at the Royal Brisbane hospital in Brisbane Qld. Patrick's treatment starts on
the 12th April .Mary his Mum arrives in Australia
on the 5th April and will be here for about 2 months . Affordable
accommodation within a 5 minute walk to the Hospital itself has been arranged
as Patrick has to go daily to the hospital for treatment. Patrick' can get some of his expenses covered by Medicare and he will
be able to claim on the PTS (Patient Travel Scheme) which will allow him to
claim back some of his own transport flight costs (Bne - Rockhampton &
return later). However there are still a few more pennies to raise so we
can help Mary with her immediate living expenses within Australia. If anyone
wishes to make a donation towards these expenses, then please make your
donation into the Bank Account below.Geoff Higgs is a reputable registered Migration
Agent residing in Toowoomba Qld and will be responsible for any monies
received . Please feel free to contact Geoff if needing an update to the
balance of funds on hand . Geoffs contact details are as follows - ghmigr8@bigpond.net.au Tel. +61 7
4698 7422 & Fax +61 7 4698 7433. Thank you.

Please ensure that with a
deposit made to Geoff to email him stating the date and amount deposited so that he can (a) confirm
receipt of sum and (b) keep a record in Patrick's file and (c) maintain a record
of the running total and disbursements whereby these funds will be channeled
either to Patrick or to Mary. . .

MDC Press Conference Statement

(02-04-07)Maintaining Momentum Against The
Mugabe Regime.

Let us Drive the Tyrant out of
Town.

2nd April 2007; Harare ,
Zimbabwe

Introduction

The MDC National Executive
Committee met on Saturday 31st March 2007 , followed by the National Council
on the 1st of April 2007 . The National Council considered the current
National Crisis. This diplomatic briefing is pursuant to the discussions and
resolutions of the National Council, the MDC supreme decision making organ
in between congresses.

On The SADC Summit

The MDC places a
lot of significance on the convening, deliberations and decisions of the
SADC Heads of State Emergency Summit held in Tanzania on the 28th March 2007
. The fact that the regional body met specifically to discuss Zimbabwe is in
itself an acknowledgement of the Zimbabwean crisis and an acceptance that
the despot Robert Mugabe has failed to run the affairs of our nation. More
importantly, the SADC Emergency Summit clearly recognized that the on-going
economic and political crisis is both unsustainable and a threat to regional
stability. This is unprecedented.

The SADC
position is further reinforced by the bold decision to appoint President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa as the mediator with a view to facilitating
resolution of the crisis through dialogue between ZANU-PF and democratic
forces. Such an unequivocal regional mandate to the SA President was
unthinkable a mere four weeks ago. This is a triumph of regional sovereignty
and Pan-Africanism over narrow, perverted and misconceived notions of
national sovereignty. This is victory for the people of Zimbabwe , and
Africans in general. The MDC applauds these resolutions of the SADC
Emergency Summit and condemns the attempt by the Dictatorship to underplay
SADC efforts by declaring the Summit a victory for the disastrous Mugabe
policies that have brought suffering to the people.

Hell, No.
It was neither victory nor an excellent meeting for Robert Mugabe. It was a
devastating blow to the ugly face of ZANU(PF). There has been movement in
attitudes and opinions among Africans with respect to Zimbabwe . Africans no
longer accept Mugabe's grandstanding as a liberation hero, freedom fighter,
land revolutionary, anti-imperialist and champion of African rights. They
now accept him for what he is: A despot who has become a negation of the
values and principles of the liberation war; a dictator who brutalizes
Africans and denies them basic human rights and economic
opportunities.

What We
Want

So what is it that the people of Zimbabwe want? It is our
submission that at the core of the Zimbabwean crisis are issues of
governance and legitimacy. Our country is ruled by a corrupt, incompetent,
criminal, and brutal kleptocracy, which has retained power through
fraudulent elections. We do not want any further polls in our country under
the current constitutional and electoral framework. We want a new
people-driven democratic constitution, electoral law reforms and legislative
changes that allow for the holding of free and fair elections. Furthermore,
we want this new democratic and electoral dispensation to take root in our
country now, thus creating conditions conducive for free and fair elections.
It is our demand that the first plebiscite under these conditions should be
internationally supervised. We will respect any government that is produced
by these processes.

Beyond resolving the challenge of
illegitimacy, the people of Zimbabwe can then deal with issues of economic
recovery, stabilization, transformation and growth. We want Zimbabwe to be a
globally competitive economy in terms of GDP, per capita income, business
growth, exports, FDI, worker conditions, wages, and entrepreneurship. Our
vision is that of Zimbabwe as the leading African democracy, characterized
by people-centered social development and economic
growth.

The Strategy to
Victory

How are we going to achieve what we want? In order to
establish leveling of the political playing field in Zimbabwe , through the
reforms we seek, there is need for a broad alliance of all democratic
forces. Civic society organizations and political parties must work together
to restore democracy and freedom in Zimbabwe . Events of the past month have
demonstrated the capacity of Zimbabweans to execute unity of action and
purpose. As a party we resolve to continue with the spirit of cooperation in
pursuit of the re-democratisation of Zimbabwe beginning with the achievement
of national consensus on a new constitution followed by agreement on a new
electoral dispensation which will ensure that the next elections are a
palpably free and fair. We will continue with our Defiance Campaign to press
the ZANU-PF government towards an all inclusive dialogue around the changes
we seek. We will continue to defy POSA, AIPPA, and the illegitimate
government of Robert Mugabe.

It is critical to maintain and
leverage the momentum that has gathered against Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe .
All democratic forces must close ranks, carry out joint actions of defiance
against unjust laws and the illegitimate regime, and also support each other
in their independent institutional initiatives and actions. It is in this
context that the MDC unreservedly supports the national Stay Away planned by
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions on 3-4 April 2007. We fully endorse
this revolutionary confrontation with the regime and call upon all
Zimbabweans to rally behind the trade union movement to make the Stay Away a
success.

When the conditions for free and fair elections have
been achieved, the MDC believes it is critical for the democratic forces to
ensure that every vote counts against ZANU(PF). It is essential that
opposition parties do not compete against each other in elections. There is
need to galvanise and energise the entire national electorate by presenting
a united front against ZANU(PF). We believe in a single candidate philosophy
and principle in all elections (Presidential, Parliamentary, Senate,
Council, etc).

Consequently, the MDC resolves to continue
dialogue and seek agreement with other opposition parties in order to
establish a possible election coalition framework and candidate selection
methodology. It is our submission that national interest should take
precedence over narrow and selfish interests. The democratic forces should
not allow ZANU(PF) to reinvent, regenerate, and succeed itself. If this
happens, it will mean ZANU(PF) rule for another 20-30 years. This must be
stopped by any means necessary. The old adage has never been more
applicable; united we stand, divided we fall. An all- inclusive and
cohesive united front of ALL democratic forces is essential to give our
country a fresh start. Our nation needs the injection of a new value system,
a different political culture, and redemptive institutional frameworks. Our
economy demands creative technocratic solutions and capacity that these
ZANU(PF) morons are incapable of
providing.

Conclusion

We will be masters
of our destiny. We will not allow the dictator to determine the future of
our country. We will step up to the plate and free ourselves. We will
embark on an economic journey to the promise land. We have the potential to
be a globally competitive economy. With our strength in natural resources,
physical infrastructure, and human capital, Zimbabwe is destined for
greatness. What we need is to stand up to the ZANU(PF) cowardly dictatorship
which has turned the state into an unashamed criminal state. The
transformation of the police into a criminal sadistic brutal force is worse
than any thing we ever saw under the Smith regime. We will stand united as a
people as we confront the regime in the process of reclaiming our
sovereignty, freedoms, liberties and dignity. It is our generational
mandate. We will not be found wanting. We will defeat the ZANU(PF)
dictatorship. We owe it to ourselves, to future generations and to posterity
to stand firm.

Activists abducted from hospital and re-arrested

By Lance Guma02
April 2007

Eight opposition officials and activists were abducted from
their hospital beds and taken to prison late night on Saturday. MDC Glen
View Member of Parliament Paul Madzore, National Executive member Ian
Makone, former Daily News journalist and now MDC information officer Luke
Tamborinyoka and 5 others were re-arrested, despite a court order that they
be hospitalised. Only one, Shame Wakatama, a bodyguard to MDC Chitungwiza MP
Fidelis Mhashu, was left at the Avenues Clinic.

Tsvangirai MDC
spokesman Nelson Chamisa told Newsreel some of those abducted from hospital
were on intravenous drips but this did not deter the security agents who
just ripped them out of their arms.MP Madzore, Wakatama and Makone had
collapsed on Saturday while they and 6 others awaited a bail hearing at the
magistrate's court. Police arrested them over trumped up allegations that
they masterminded a string of petrol bomb attacks across the country.
Tamborinyoka was arrested alongside other party workers following a police
raid at Harvest House, the MDC headquarters. On Saturday the courts had
ordered hospital treatment for those severely beaten and tortured in
custody.

Meanwhile the magistrate's court on Monday denied bail to 8
other opposition officials, including Raymond Bake the Chairperson for ward
34 in the Combined Harare Residents Association. Bake was abducted last
Tuesday in Mufakose and Newsreel reported how his 17-year-old daughter
Rosila visited every police station in Harare looking for him. He was found
at Harare remand prison on Sunday. The exact number of activists arrested
and in custody is unknown but estimates run into hundreds. MDC lawyer Alec
Muchadehama says they will only know the exact number once all the activists
are brought to court.

The state is accusing the MDC of orchestrating
a spate of petrol bomb attacks on police stations and business premises
owned by Zanu PF officials. Chamisa however dismissed this as 'preposterous'
saying it 'smacks of a desperate regime.' He says the government has no
solutions to problems affecting the country and was now lashing out at
people in the opposition who are perceived to be effective in their work.
'This is a sustained terror campaign against the opposition,' he
added.

Students under attack

The Zimbabwean

Students in Zimbabwe's tertiary
institutions are under serious and life threatening attacks by the unruly
regime of Robert Mugabe. The ZINASU President, Promise Mkwananzi is
currently in hiding, after being reliably informed that he is amongst the
top most wanted pro-democracy activists. An innocent student was viciously
attacked by state security agents in town after being mistaken for
Mkwananzi. The student was however released after producing his identity. He
sustained a broken jaw.

Two student leaders from the University of
Zimbabwe were severly assaulted on the 21st of March 2007, whilst on their
way to their halls of residents from the evening study at around 8.45pm. One
of the student leaders, Tatenda Kunaka sustained two deep cuts in the face.
Another student leader, again from the University of Zimbabwe, Lovemore
Chinoputsa, was attacked by the police in town at the Haverst House and
sustained internal injuries. Lovemore is currently admitted at a private
clinic in Borrowdale, Harare. ZINASU Vice President, Gideon Chitanga, was
physically assaulted by non-uniformed police officers at the Magistrates
courts in Masvingo today, where he was to appeared in court for his trial
after being arrested for addressing a Students General Meeting at the
Masvingo State University in February this year.

Two student
activists from the Bulawayo Polytechnic College, Lancelot Mugadza and Obey
Munyoro who were on suspension, were last week expelled from college after
having addressed students in the campus dining hall. Lancelot was a
candidate for the SRC Presidential elections which were then held after his
expulsion.

Meanwhile, students and their leaders all over the country
have vowed to support the two day stayaway, which was called for by the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU). The action is on from 3rd of April
to the 4th of April 2007. The stay away comes against a backdrop of high
annual inflation rate, which is currently pegged at 1729.9%, high cost of
living, exhobitant prices of the anti-retroviral drugs among other
issues.

Bringing Mugabe to book - article and comments

The Guardian

We need to
stop navel gazing and utilise the legal mechanisms available to bring an end
to Robert Mugabe's despotic rule in Zimbabwe.

Rosa Davis

April
2, 2007 10:30 AM |The situation in Zimbabwe has been at crisis point for a
number of months, but recent events have shocked even the most robust
followers of African politics. The recent beatings of political opponents,
threats to expel diplomats, and other despicable actions have created a
furore amongst the international community. From a legal point of view, the
question is whether Robert Mugabe can be held accountable for these events
and in what forum this will be possible.

There have been a number of
instances where attempts have been made to prosecute foreign leaders abroad
for atrocities committed in their own countries. Belgium issued an arrest
warrant for the leader of the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to
prosecute him under the jurisdiction that he had committed crimes that
breached international conventions, and therefore any party to those
conventions could enforce them. This attempt failed, but shows the basic
premise that as an international community we have an obligation to try to
enforce international law and punish those who breach it.

One of the
main problems is that of state sovereignty - even if an arrest warrant were
to be issued for Mugabe, he could only be arrested outside of Zimbabwe, and
even then his country of nationality would have the option of prosecuting
him rather than him being tried abroad. This is problematic, especially
given that the likelihood of a sham trial would be high.

The United
Nations has a specialised court - the international court of justice - which
is designed to resolve disputes between states. It cannot deal with purely
domestic events, nor can it be used as a place to deal with individuals who
fall foul of international law. Although an advisory opinion may be
requested by a non-governmental organisation concerned with the legalities
of the situation in Zimbabwe, the ruling of the court will have no legal
effect and can only be used to place political pressure on the
country.

Unfortunately, political pressure does not seem to have
curbed the political chaos in this country, and it is unlikely that an
international court of justice advisory opinion will make any difference to
Mugabe's current actions. Unfortunately the only countries who seem to
respond to international political pressure are those who value being
members of the international community. Mugabe appears to relish his role as
a pariah, and presumably the more pressure that is applied the more that
this role is reinforced.

The international criminal tribunals for
Yugoslavia and Rwanda were set up in order to deal with domestic atrocities
perpetrated by nationals against other nationals. Although some protection
of nationals from other nationals is afforded by international conventions,
this is a situation that was not previously thought of in terms of the laws
of war. These tribunals were partly set up to deter further atrocities, and
partly set up to punish previous crimes due to the lack of legal
infrastructure available in these war-torn countries to deal with them on a
national level. By and large they have been successful, mainly due to the
cooperation of the countries and leaderships involved. It is nigh impossible
that Mugabe will agree to such a tribunal being set up, let alone cooperate
with it. Mugabe has already demolished the national legal system in
Zimbabwe, so the chances of him cooperating with any other legal system
remain slim at best.

Countries such as Cambodia, East Timor and Sierra
Leone have had mixed systems of justice based on national and international
law in order to deal with past atrocities. This may be a solution in the
future once the country has been torn apart and rebuilt. However, it would
be preferable to find a solution which would stop further atrocities being
committed in Zimbabwe now, rather than waiting until the country (and many
people within it) has been destroyed before taking retributive action
through legal methods.

The international criminal court (ICC) was set up
in order to deal with atrocities committed by state representatives against
foreign nationals, both domestically and abroad. Whether it can be used to
deal with the situation in Zimbabwe is a very different matter. This court,
though highly relevant, is only emerging from its embryonic state. It was
set up to deal with perpetrators and orchestrators of the worst types of
atrocities known to mankind. Mugabe, in my opinion, fits this bill. He is a
dictator and a despot who is wreaking havoc with the country and people over
which he rules. Moreover, the atrocities committed breach numerous
international conventions against torture, crimes against humanity, et al.
He is a prime candidate for the ICC, especially since he has committed
crimes against foreign nationals over which their countries of origin could
exercise jurisdiction and ask the ICC to prosecute. Further, there is no
chance that the ICC will allow Zimbabwe to exercise the complementarity rule
and prosecute these crimes nationally, due to the decimation of the domestic
legal infrastructure.

So, rather than bleating and whining about the
situation in Zimbabwe, and instead of twiddling our thumbs and crying into
our lattes, we should be utilising the legal mechanisms available to deal
with Mugabe. Political pressure has not worked so far, and, whilst we sit
back waiting to see if it ever will, people's lives are becoming
increasingly bleaker. However, if we lobbied our government and raised the
issue in parliament, we could ensure that the Office of the Prosecutor at
the ICC begins investigations and proceedings against Mugabe. All that it
requires is a little less navel gazing, and a little more concerted
action.

------------------------

Comments

Comment
No. 508156

April 2 10:43

GBR

It's as clear as black and
white. the situation was better under Ian Smith when at leat the pound in
our pocket meant something. He might have been a Yorkshireman,
E-BA-GUM.

UncleJ

Comment No. 508158

April 2
10:43

GBR

It's as clear as black and white. the situation was
better under Ian Smith when at leat the pound in our pocket meant something.
He might have been a Yorkshireman, E-BA-GUM.

mygirl

Comment
No. 508165

April 2 10:47

GBRgood to know that there might
actually be a way of prosecuting the monster, mugabe, who has terrorised and
impoverished zimbabwe with impunity for so many years. however many more
people will die from hunger and disease and police action before the
international courts will take action. witness
Darfur.

nickpheas

Comment No. 508171

April 2
10:49

GBRSo some court in a white country could prosecute him. Would
he care?

figliomedio

Comment No. 508197

April 2
11:00

GBRWhatever happened to the principle that we don't interfere
with the internal doestic affairs of a sovereign state?

And why
should not Mugabe be given a modicum of credit for the heroic overthrow of
the foul and stinking apartheid regime of Ian Smith and his Unilateral
Declaration of Independence?

AlexStein

Comment No.
508198

April 2 11:00

ISRInteresting piece. Do you think this
principle should be applied widely? What do you think of the attempts to
bring Sharon to book for Sabra and Shatilla, for
example?

WallyMcWhinger

Comment No. 508237

April 2
11:16

GBRRosa, didn't you used to be a commenter here and now you've
got your own column? Well there's hope for us all...

Alexstein: "Do
you think this principle should be applied widely? What do you think of the
attempts to bring Sharon to book for Sabra and Shatilla?"Worth a go - it's
not like he could stop us is it.

Ishouldapologise

Comment No.
508245

April 2 11:22

GBRRobert Mugabe is the father of his
nation...He did what South Africa is afraid to do so openly:
redistribute the land stolen from the African people by the conquest of the
British colonists invading under Rhodes..Where was Britain when
Rhodesia declared UDI under Smith? No defence of justice and democracy and
equality and the right of the majority to control their own country
then..South Africa has learned lessons from Mugabe. It has learned to
take a softly, softly approach to land refor....Why do
people assume the opposition has legitimacy just because they are
opposition. The opposition in Zimbabwe are being groomed by the US and the
UK. They are being supported by the US and the UK to the extent that they go
along with the US and UK idea of market driven negative
liberty...African politician's have told me that the pposition in
Zimbabwe don't have much support in the country and that Zimabweans would
rather see Ms. Mujura, the vice-president of Zimbabwe in
power..Let's remember, Mugabe took on a white settler elite that had a
lot of rich fertile land to lose and that these are people with strong links
to the Metropolis....Some of the voices you will hear on
this debate are the embittered voices of white Rhodesians who lost their
priviliges..Yes, Mugabe should leave, but it's none of Britain's
business. We have done enough damage in Africa in our history
already.

..It's none of our damn
business.

Donuts

Comment No. 508253

April 2
11:24

GBR"So, rather than bleating and whining about the situation in
Zimbabwe, and instead of twiddling our thumbs and crying into our lattes, we
should be utilising the legal mechanisms available to deal with Mugabe.
Political pressure has not worked so far, and, whilst we sit back waiting to
see if it ever will, people's lives are becoming increasingly bleaker.
However, if we lobbied our government and raised the issue in parliament, we
could ensure that the Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC begins
investigations and proceedings against Mugabe. All that it requires is a
little less navel gazing, and a little more concerted action."

I'm
sorry but this is both laughable and totally ill-advised. Contemptuous and
dismissive too. How many people do you think have been trying to sort Mugabe
out for years, decades even, and you think reading a lawbook will sort it
out? Don't you think people have lobbied parliament, talked to their MPs,
etc etc.

Oh, if only we'd thought of that first...

A couple of
facts:

Peter Tatchell tried to do a citizens arrest on
Mugabe.

Mugabe is banned from the EU entirely as a result of political
pressure.

Half-baked research dressed up as serious comment. Please, your
latte is getting cold.

sethfreedman

Comment No.
508254

April 2 11:24

GBRstein directed me here - but it's all
a bit highbrow for my liking. as for prosecuting sharon - bit like flogging
a dead horse, wouldn't you say? let sleeping dogs lie (and any other adages
that fit the bill)

conorfoley

Comment No. 508255

April 2
11:25

GBRAlex: you are confusing the ICC with proscutions under
universal jurisdiction (as does the article to some extent). Sharon could
not be prosecuted under the ICC for Sabra and Shatilla because the massacre
occurred before the the Statute came into force and anyway neither Lebanon
nor Israel have ratified it. There was an attempt to prosecute Sharon in
Belgium under universal jusridiction laws, but it failed. This followed the
Pinochet case and a number of others. It was partly due to concern about
'politically-motivated prosecutions' that the US became so paranoid about
the ICC - although the principles involved are quite different.

I
think Peter Tatchell tried to do a citizen's arrest on Mugabe the last time
he visited Britain. If he joins the thread it would be interesting to hear
him say a bit more about it.

RosaDavis

Comment No.
508270

April 2 11:33

GBRnickpheas - the ICC is not a 'court in
a white country'. It is a court designed for the international community as
a whole to prosecute war criminals and suchlike. Hopefully it will live up
to its mandate as a representative of all nations.

Figliomedio -
there must come a point in time where the internal affairs of a sovereign
state are deemed the responsibility of the international community. The
reason for international conventions on human rights et al are to impose a
universal morality upon all nations. It is a very tricky area in terms of
when and how to intervene, but it is my opinion that the situation in
Zimbabwe warrants international intervention for the sake of those who live
under that regime.

Ishoulapologise - "He did what South Africa is afraid
to do so openly: redistribute the land stolen from the African people by the
conquest of the British colonists invading under Rhodes." Unfortunately
Mugabe's redistribution of land has resulted in such a reduction of produce
that there is a significant food shortage in the country. I agree that
colonialism was morally abhorrent, and that African nations have the right
to rebuild their countries under new regimes. However, surely it is the duty
of the ex-colonial states to help ensure that the rebuilding of these states
is done without human rights violations and without bloodshed and
destruction. As my mum always said - "if you make a mess, it is your job to
clean it up".

Teacup

Comment No. 508282

April 2
11:40

INDAs much as I would like to see Mr. Mugabe removed, I don't
think that an International Court is the way to remove him, or bring him to
book. FiloMedio is correct about not interfering with a sovereign
state.

robjmckinney

Comment No. 508298

April 2
11:46

No doubt when Mugabe is replaced another poor quality leader will
replace him. Termoil is going to be the future of Africa until the socities
mature and no doubt our children and their children will have similar
discussions. General predictions are that this poor government in Africa
will last at least until mid-20th century where western government may not
be able to allow such despots to continue. The West will then have to sit
back while Africa become a powerhouse following China's lead. Mugabe soon
pass into history where he belongs, but who will replace him and will this
bring real stability to the country, can they attract the skills of the
white farmers back to feed the people and restart the economy, I think
not!

nowthennowthen

Comment No. 508326

April 2
11:59

GBRAlexStein

It's not going to happen until someone
discovers oil in Zimbabwe.

As for prosecuting Sharon (not that you would
be able to get him into court - he's in a coma unless you hadn't noticed), I
have no problem with that provided you also campaign to prosecute the
leaders of the Christain Phalage terror group that carried out the
killings.

Add to this shopping list of world dictators and despots; King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Mubarak of Egypt, Assad of Syria, Ahmadinejad of Iran,
Kim Jong-il of North Korea, Chavez of Venezuela, Nassrallah of Hezbollah,
Khaled Mashaal of Hamas, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, the Junta in Burma and
finally not forgetting Livingston of London.

I'm sure there's more.
No doubt the left would sooner impeach Bush and Blair before this bunch, but
after Sharon of course.

theoldfeller

Comment No.
508349

April 2 12:09

GBRHow come the Iraq solution doesnt
apply here? If its good enough for Saddam its good enough for Mugabe. Dont
we want the walnut oil wells?

Bit late to brimg Sharon to book. What
about Bush for Guantanamo?

OwenOliver

Comment No.
508363

April 2 12:15

GBRDon't expect to generate any heat on
here.

if it aint Israel they aint
interested.

JoshFB

Comment No. 508386

April 2
12:25

GBRIshouldapologise: "Yes, Mugabe should leave, but it's none
of Britain's business. We have done enough damage in Africa in our history
already."I don't think Rosa was proposing that Britain should invade
Zimbabwe, but rather the international community (not Britain, or even the
west) should hold Mugabe (not Zimbabwe) to account. The fact that Britain
has an awful record of colonialism should not be confused with efforts of
the international community to act
internationally.

Zimbabwe

Comment No. 508389

April 2
12:26

AUS

An Easter Tragedy-----------------

At the
Magistrate?s Court in Harare, a crowd gathered outsideweeping for men and
women who carry an invisible cross.

Thousands have suffered at the hands
of baton-wielding zealots,masquerading as Police, in a land where lives have
little price.

Is this commercialism gone mad? Trading in muscle and
limbsfeeding their families with the blood of countrymen and
women?

Who weeps for Mugabe ~ he who styles himself after Jesus
continuallyresurrected, who pretends to heave his country away from Colonial
roots?

Why should we cry for a Chinese Palace, wifely shopping sprees in
Paris;a man protected from his own voters by his army of security
enforcers?

His people no longer believe he leads for them ~ have seen how
he dictates,feathers his own nest and the cronies he keeps very close ~
walled in by sin.

How long will millions of starving, beaten people
wait for their turn at life,their chance to eat, to sleep peacefully in
a khaya built in prosperity and peace?

Will the tears shed this
Easter encourage the world to stand up for Zimbabwe?

Frances
Macaulay Forde ? 2007

SeerTaak

Comment No. 508404

April 2
12:32

GBRJoshFB:"I don't think Rosa was proposing that Britain should
invade Zimbabwe, but rather the international community (not Britain, or
even the west) should hold Mugabe (not Zimbabwe) to account. The fact that
Britain has an awful record of colonialism should not be confused with
efforts of the international community to act internationally."

Well
the "international community" either consists of a few dozen former colonial
powers or nearly 200 assorted Third World kleptocracies. I really don't see
why Britain, whatever you think about the British colonial record, will
suddenly become much wiser when working with France and Spain. Either the
British ought to, or they ought not. The international community can do
nothing unless the First World states put some military muscle behind their
calls anyway.

Ricardinho

Comment No. 508414

April 2
12:36

GBRReading laws and inditements at Mugabe will mean diddly
squat. Many of his policies have been declared illegal by the Zimbabwean
high court already.

It is clear that he has destroyed a functional
country as he becomes increasingly senile, power-hungry and racist. But it's
a tough question, asking when intervention in another country's affairs is
justified. Is it that much worse than Saddam's Iraq, against the invasion of
which 2 million of us marched through London? The West can't try to 'fix'
every problem around the world.

9percentGrowth

Comment No.
508415

April 2 12:37

"One of the main problems is that of state
sovereignty"

Indeed. If only all foreigners were content to be ruled by
the British the world would be a wonderful place.

Alternately the
problem would be solved if only we allowed Mr Mugabe to issue arrest
warrents against Britsh people he didn't like.

Or, with infinitely more
justice, we enforced warrents issued by by Yugoslavia against a British PM
clearly guilty of war crimes & almost certainly also of genocide. Does
anybody seriously suggest that Mugabe is guilty of more murders than
Bliar?

Ishouldapologise

Comment No. 508418

April 2
12:38

@RosaDavis

So do you support US/UK moves to "clean up the
mess" Britain left in Zimbabwe. Or do you support the African Unions moves
or what exactly do you propose? Who would set up this "international
tribunal"?

@JoshFB, I take your point, but RosaDavis did suggest Britain
"clear up it's own mess".

RosaDavis

Comment No.
508447

April 2 12:50

GBRTeacup - if you dont think
international law should be used to bring Mugabe to book, how would you
suggest doing so? I agree that sovereign states should have independence to
run their own affairs, but where do you draw the line? With so many starving
in Zimbabwe, with medical care sparse, and with atrocities rife, at what
point would you step in?

OwenOliver - it is rather refreshing to see a
topic other than Israel generating any form of discussion on
CIF!

SeerTaak - the international community, as personified in the UN<
is in fact amde up of all nation states. Furthermore, there are many
influential countries within the organisation who are not 'western' (India,
Japan, Brazil, to name but a few).

GaelicMogg - but of course the
brilliance of the ICC is that if an individual from a non-member state
commits an atrocity against a person from a member state, they can be
brought in front of the court!

Ricardinho - I couldnt agree more.
However, intervention through warfare is very different to intervening
through the legal system. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but
the method outlined in this article would ensure a very different outcome
from that in Iraq.

Ishouldapologise - what I mean is that all colonial
powers should take some responsibility for the chaos in many African
countries, and should be involved in a process that ensures a swift end to
the atrocities and human rights violations that are ongoing in many parts of
the continent.

theoldfeller

Comment No. 508451

April 2
12:51

GBRGaelicMogg

"But of course the exceptional nations,
little and large, are both Israel and the US, big partners in
crime."

Papertiger, I thought you were banned. What a clever cat you must
be to sneak in through the back door. So intelligent to see everything in
terms of Israel, by which we know from your previous posts that you mean the
Jews. A small minded, ignorant bigot. Or is that your banned alter-ego?
Whilst you are the dashing, intelligent virile one?

Be careful, we'll
have your blood for our matzos.

RosaDavis

Comment No.
508454

April 2 12:52

GBRTeacup - if you dont think
international law should be used to bring Mugabe to book, how would you
suggest doing so? I agree that sovereign states should have independence to
run their own affairs, but where do you draw the line? With so many starving
in Zimbabwe, with medical care sparse, and with atrocities rife, at what
point would you step in?

OwenOliver - it is rather refreshing to see a
topic other than Israel generating any form of discussion on
CIF!

SeerTaak - the international community, as personified in the UN<
is in fact amde up of all nation states. Furthermore, there are many
influential countries within the organisation who are not 'western' (India,
Japan, Brazil, to name but a few).

GaelicMogg - but of course the
brilliance of the ICC is that if an individual from a non-member state
commits an atrocity against a person from a member state, they can be
brought in front of the court!

Ricardinho - I couldnt agree more.
However, intervention through warfare is very different to intervening
through the legal system. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but
the method outlined in this article would ensure a very different outcome
from that in Iraq.

Ishouldapologise - what I mean is that all colonial
powers should take some responsibility for the chaos in many African
countries, and should be involved in a process that ensures a swift end to
the atrocities and human rights violations that are ongoing in many parts of
the continent.

SeerTaak

Comment No. 508513

April 2
13:08

GBRRosaDavis:"if you dont think international law should be
used to bring Mugabe to book, how would you suggest doing so? I agree that
sovereign states should have independence to run their own affairs, but
where do you draw the line? With so many starving in Zimbabwe, with medical
care sparse, and with atrocities rife, at what point would you step
in?"

I don't think that handing authority over to Mugabe's peers is
likely to achieve much. They are more likely to over throw Blair and Mugabe.
The only solution is for Britain to do something with the Royal Marines or
more plausibly, for South Africa to pull the plug.

RosaDavis:"the
international community, as personified in the UN< is in fact amde up of
all nation states. Furthermore, there are many influential countries within
the organisation who are not 'western' (India, Japan, Brazil, to name but a
few)."

I am not sure you read me correctly. The "international community"
usually has two meanings - either the G8 or some similar body (usually when
it comes to handing out cash) or the UN for most other matters. If it is the
G8 you are dealing with, basically, the former colonial powers who are not
industrialised nations. If Britain has no right to do anything, why does
Britain with some other former colonial powers? How is many colonialist
heads better than one? If it is the UN, well, that bunch of kleptocrats will
only vote to keep Mugabe in power - to avoid creating a precedent or out of
anti-White racial solidarity or something. His peers will never get rid of
him because they could be next.

RosaDavis:"but of course the
brilliance of the ICC is that if an individual from a non-member state
commits an atrocity against a person from a member state, they can be
brought in front of the court!"

What most people would call an act of
war.

RosaDavis:"Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but the
method outlined in this article would ensure a very different outcome from
that in Iraq."

How so? How do you prevent "insurgents" from
insurging?

RosaDavis:"what I mean is that all colonial powers should take
some responsibility for the chaos in many African countries"

How can
the colonial powers take responsibility for what they are not responsible
for?

RosaDavis

Comment No. 508620

April 2
13:44

GBRGaelicMogg - the UK and France have not exercised their veto
for many years. Why? Presumably because they know they do not have the power
to back up a radical stance. In terms of the Security Council, an overhaul
of the system is desperately needed, and has been on the cards for some
time. Further, I am not sure why you state that Israel has such a veto
unless you are insinuating that America uses its veto on Israe;'s behalf.
Russia exercised her veto on behalf of other communist countries, and there
have been numerous instances of the P5 using their veto power to help their
allies. I dont think that the Israel/USA relationship within the UN is the
isolated case that many believe it to be.

In my opinion the influence
of non-western countries is large, especially considering the economic,
military and trade power of these states.

To answer your question about
Ariel Sharon - I believe the ICC will eventually be the correct forum to
bring all international criminals to. This includes leaders who have
committed or ordered atrocities. Whether or not Sharon will be brought there
is a difficult question as it depends how far back the ICC is prepared to
look in terms of cases it opens. However, I am sure many requests will be
sent to the Office of the Prosecutor to open cases against both Israeli and
Palestinian leaders.

theoldfeller

Comment No. 508624

April
2 13:45

GBRGaelicMogg"RosaDavis: You didn't answer my own
question - were you being evasive?"

And you didn't answer
mine.

Midnight at the poisoned well?

blackrock

Comment No.
508628

April 2 13:46

GBRIshouldapologise:

"He did what
South Africa is afraid to do so openly: redistribute the land stolen from
the African people by the conquest of the British colonists invading under
Rhodes."

...

Convenient then that it took him two decades
to get round to land distribution, and only when he was facing the real
danger of losing power.

And this even after we offered to pay for land
redistribution as long as it was done through the UN and not channeled
through the Zanu-PF.

Sadly there is no morally righteous goal behind his
land redistribution programme, I wish there was, but in reality it is
cynical and designed to further the interests of Mugabe and his
supporters.

figliomedio

Comment No. 508713

April 2
14:12

GBRGaelicMogg

>>>And how influential are these
non-western countries without being able to >>>wave a veto like
China, Russia, the US and UK, France ... and Israel of >>>course?
<<<

Israel? Of course! It's your obsession

Next it'll be
the Protocols of the Elders of Matabeleland

Carry on you Irish Pussycat:
Bull-away-o! You're always good for a
laugh.

Ishouldapologise

Comment No. 508714

April 2
14:14

@Blackrock

"Sadly there is no morally righteous goal behind
his land redistribution"

I disagree.

It took Mugabe that long
because he didn't want to alienate a powerful section of Zimbabwe society,
the whites with links to the metropolis.

Mugabe was under pressure to
carry out land reform from his own people, it wasn't just a cynical
measure.

The threat from the white population was that if he did carry
out land reform, then they would pull the plug on the Zimbabwe
economy..They, the settlers, pulled the plug by their brinkmanship. The
British settlers should have come to an agreement with ZANU earlier and on
better terms, but they didn't....They should also be held
reponsible for the economic disaster in Zimbabwe and not just
Mugabe..Mugabe may be a tyrant, but if he sees Britain and the US
maouvering to oust him, magnifying the beating of an opposition leader, a
former Mugabe henchman, into an international, a global event, then he can
justifiably say that the former colonial power and the new international
hegemonic power are out to get him and he can present himself as a patriot
and an anti-imperialist...and he will be right, in a strange
way.

Brazilian

Comment No. 508756

April 2
14:29

GBRIt seems very clear that the removal of Robert Mugabe from
power will depend on the reversal of his fortunes inside Zimbabwe, since the
African leaders that could help bring about changes in that
catastrophe-stricken country don't appear to be sufficiently willing to do
so. What is keeping Mugabe in power is the backing he still enjoys of his
country's army and police forces. But it would have seemed that things are
not unlikely to change. Mugabe recently criticized openly his deputy, Joyce
Mujuru, and her husband, Solomon Mujuru, who happens to be the former head
of the army, which is said to be still loyal to him. He fears that these two
powerful Zimbabweans may be planning a coup.

If anyone were to seek
to prosecute Mugabe, chances are they would do it outside Africa. More
specifically in Europe. It could be argued that this might play in Mugabe's
hands, because he built his reputation as an African revolutionary mainly
through championing the anti-colonial cause. He would immediately cry foul,
and accuse those intent on bringing about criminal charges against him of
being Western, which in Mugabe parlance means 'natural enemy'. However,
Solomon Mujuru, who is probably better placed than anyone else to carry out
the toppling of Robert Mugabe, not only understands how important it is for
Zimbabwe to restore its reputation in the international community, but has
also been making his views known to his countrymen. Furtheremore, business
interests could force Solomon Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the former head
of the secret police, to start considering working together on an
alternative solution to just wait until Mugabe dies. Plus, unconfirmed
reports suggest Mr. Mujuru has been holding talks with Morgan Tsvangirai,
the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Seeking
to prosecute Mugabe would make sense at any point in time, given that there
is little doubt that he has committed crimes against humanity. Doing it now,
though, would be the right thing to do in strategic
terms.

theoldfeller

Comment No. 508774

April 2
14:35

GBRGaelicMogg

"Isn't it intriguing how the Semitic
peoples now circle gleefully around the developing tragedy in Zimbabwe?
Where were the Semitic hordes when tragic Rwanda called for international
help over the unfolding genocide of the Tutsi people? "

By Semitic do
you mean Arabs? Or Arameans? Feeling a little coy today are we, why not say
what you really mean? And please confirm whether you will keep our
appointment. Time is moving on, we need a korban
pesach.

nickpheas

Comment No. 508881

April 2
15:14

GBRRosa "nickpheas - the ICC is not a 'court in a white
country'. It is a court designed for the international community as a whole
to prosecute war criminals and suchlike. Hopefully it will live up to its
mandate as a representative of all nations."

Just trying to put
myself in his head. You don't honestly think that Mugabe and his supporters
won't just see the ICC as another means by which the developed nations try
to interfere in the activities of Africa while failing to bring their own
war criminals to book to you?

winter7

Comment No.
508938

April 2 15:31

GBRAs a couple of people have pointed
out, Peter Tatchell has attempted a citizen's arrest on Robret Mugabe. He
has tired this twice, in 1999 and 2001. During one of the attempts he was
severely beaten by Mugabe's bodyguards.Tatchell also filed complaints in
both French and British courts in 2003 seeking to have Mugabe tried on
charges of torture, but neither case succeeded.I'm surprised that this
wasn't worth a mention in the article.

GrandOldMan

Comment No.
508952

April 2 15:33

GBRI'm still waiting for GaelicMogg to
explain his totally incomprehensible opost about "Semitic tribes" and
Madelaine Albright.

Come on GaelicMogg- dont be shy. What did you
mean?

RosaDavis

Comment No. 508978

April 2
15:44

GBRGaelicMogg -

I'm not sure how we moved on to a
discussion about Israel, but whilst we are there let me respond to your
post.

You wrote "Ariel, the big slumbering bull-dozer ... is safe from
the ICC. But I think you knew that Rosa, didn't you? But then again, I think
the war criminals who scattered cluster bombs over Lebanon sleep soundly in
their beds as Israeli jets thunder over Gaza, making Palestinian children
wet their beds. What do you say, Rosa?"

The ICC is an appropriate
forum to deal with the atrocities committed on both sides of the
Israel/Palestine conflict. Whether it will ever be utilised for this purpose
is another issue. I am sure that people are pushing for this to occur. I am
not sure that a legitimate war between Israel and Lebanon requires criminal
investigation.

GBROh no! GaelicMogg's been banned.
Coming hard on the heels of the sending off of CelticTiger this is a
dreadful blow. They'll be indicting Adolf Hitler for war crimes
next.

A fiver for the first person to spot the creepy cat's next
skin.

Yak40

Comment No. 509079

April 2
16:21

USAMugabe's removal will be in one of two ways, death from
natural causes or death by unnatural causes. I'd say the latter is more
likely right now and good riddance. He's just another blood soaked terrorist
tho' with more brains than many of that ilk.

He left the farmmers
alone for twenty years or so because he understood their contribution to the
country in both local and export terms. He only turned on them for his own
political advantage when a viable opposition appeared to be
forming.

The only problem with his departure is that the likely
successors don't look much better.

As for South Africa, it's starting
down the same slippery slope only it's being done more quietly. Namibia will
follow, the rumblings have started.

figliomedio

Comment No.
509116

April 2 16:38

GBRYak40

>>>> Mugabe's
removal will be in one of two ways, death from natural causes
>>>> or death by unnatural causes <<<

..... or
deleted by Georgina

(The Third Way)

RosaDavis

Comment No.
509201

April 2 17:12

GBRYak40 - death is the fate of all
people, and we are all destined to die by either natural or unnatural
causes. I hope that Mugabe's death is of the former rather than the latter.
Hopefully his death will occur after he has been removed from his position
as leader of Zimbabwe.

Yak40

Comment No. 509202

April 2
17:13

USA..... or deleted by Georgina

OK, I'll bite, who is
Georgina ?

Danny69

Comment No. 509231

April 2
17:24

USAA prosecution of Mugabe by the ICC may sound an attractive
option but in practical terms it would be very hard. Firstly, Zimbabwe is
not a state party to the 1998 Rome Treaty and so the court has no automatic
jurisdiction in Zimbabwe. In theory, an investigation could be referred to
the Prosecutor's office by the UN Security Council under chapter 7 of the UN
charter. Given their recent massive investment in African raw materials and
accompanying diplomatic push, it would be highly likely that the Chinese
might veto any investigation.

In any case, the court is empowered to
prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. I would love to
see Mugabe made accountable but I think it would be very hard indeed to get
a prosecution under the core crimes defined by the Rome treaty. It might be
preferable to see him held to account by a future Zimbabwean government and
independent judiciary - but it seems unlikely.

Yak40

Comment
No. 509296

April 2 17:50

USARosaDavisOf course we all die
in the end.

In Mugabe's case calling for some International Court won't
work if only because it'll take years let alone be seen by Africans as more
european interference.

Regarding Mugabe himself, the sooner his
demise the better as far as I'm concerned and I could care less about the
cause. To hear what's going on there versus seeing for myself what it was
once like (under the same ruler) is both heartbreaking and
enraging.

DrJazz

Comment No. 509300

April 2
17:52

GBRIshouldapologise: "It took Mugabe that long because he
didn't want to alienate a powerful section of Zimbabwe society, the whites
with links to the metropolis.

Mugabe was under pressure to carry out
land reform from his own people, it wasn't just a cynical
measure.

The threat from the white population was that if he did carry
out land reform, then they would pull the plug on the Zimbabwe
economy."

The whites in Zimbabwe had virtually no power in 1997 when
'land reform' started to take off. Mugabe could have taken the land back and
redistributed it using his own laws if he had been really determined. He
started the process, failed to keep to the legal timetable, and then gave up
because he and his ministers are basically lazy and self-interested. In 1998
he called an international conference to discuss the land issue. That
conference agreed to fund a transparent and fair poverty alleviation land
redistribution scheme. Mugabe drew up proposals shortly afterwards, but
didn't follow them up.

Land redistribution to 'landless peasants' is
an economically disastrous idea and was recognised as such by every educated
Zimbabwean, including Mugabe. What he needed to do was create alternative
employment for those landless peasants. He had been instrumental in
providing them with a good education, but not the jobs he had presumably
educated them for.

The opposition is not being groomed by the UK and US.
The opposition grew out of the Trade Union movement and the academic
community.

African politicians are lying to you about support for the
MDC. In 2000 the MDC won approx 50 % of the total vote and almost 50% of
seats in the rigged parlimentary election. In 2002 they came close to voting
Mugabe out in an even more rigged presidential election.

They are
lying about Joyce Mujuru too. Why should she be popular? What will she do?
How would a Zimbabwean know anything about her in a country where there are
no free media?

And I'm not a Rhodie, embittered or
otherwise.

RosaDavis

Comment No. 509361

April 2
18:19

GBRDanny69 - if Mugabe has committed any crimes against foreign
nationals then the ICC can take jurisdiction. Furthermore, I believe the
crimes he has committed have breached the core crimes that are protected by
Conventions.

Ishouldapologise

Comment No. 509376

April 2
18:25

@Dr Jazz.

You seem suspiciously clear about what Mugabe
should and should not have done. Suspicious, because, if you are not from
the Southern African region, my point is, it is really none of your
business..When you say:

"Land redistribution to 'landless
peasants' is an economically disastrous idea and was recognised as such by
every educated Zimbabwean, including Mugabe. What he needed to do was create
alternative employment for those landless peasants."

Really? That
simple is it? I can see the tea pouring out of the nostrils of a thousand
laughing government officials.

And yes, alliances are being organised by
US/UK as reported in the Guardian. Representatives and the opposition did
originally come from within ZANU, trade Union members or not.

Dr.
Jazz, you are overly crisp and confident in your opinions on Zimbabwe and in
particular on what Mugabe should or should not have done about land
reform.

And what's behind all the problems in Zimbabwe according to
you:

"he [Mugabe]and his ministers are basically lazy and
self-interested".Sounds a teensy bit like someone whose diet has been
unadulterated British media, and someone who has a few "interesting"
opinions on African politicians and laziness.

My comment to @Rosa
Davis

The suggestion that Mugabe be taken to the international court is
historical myopia. We should not take the lead on this and follow the
African Union and Europe.

Ishouldapologise

Comment No.
509435

April 2 19:01

So?

salofinkelstein

Comment No.
509555

April 2 20:25

The best result is not for Mugabe to be
prosecuted, but to simply bugger off.

He is a resilient fucker but I
think we could get rid of him by the UN security council making a resolution
that everyone has to mispronounce his surname. That really gets under
people's skin.

The future of agriculture in
Zimbabwe

freshplaza.com, Netherlands

MOUNTING evidence that we are about to suffer another massive
food shortage and that the costs of importing the shortfall have doubled
invites us to focus our attention on an undeniable fact : we have never
needed expertise in the farming sector as much as we need it now. Another
fact is that the quickest way to start a recovery process that will ease all
of the country's economic problems will be to rebuild the foundations of
commercial agriculture.

Currently, Zimbabwe's broader options can be
placed into three categories : The first is that we carry on as we are now,
trying to make about a million small-scale farms work successfully against
all the odds. Small farms need subsidies. Even the brilliantly equipped and
expertly run farms in Europe need subsidies because farms throughout Europe
are small. Zimbabwe, as a developing country, cannot afford subsidies, but
subsidies are being paid anyway. To fund them, Zimbabwe has to borrow or
print most of the money. The more the government borrows, the larger the
budget deficit and the higher the inflation rate; the more it prints, the
more vigorously it forces the already severe inflation to
rise.

Subsidies that rescue farmers from inadequate performance, if not
bankruptcy, also relieve them of the need to improve their operating
techniques. Therefore, subsidies help perpetuate low yields, and this they
do at very high cost. This generates even more inflation. As government
finances become more stretched, budget deficits rise, the shortages become
worse and yet more inflation becomes inevitable.

On this track we
will not progress. In fact, the stronger probability is that the rural areas
in Zimbabwe will become patchworks of derelict farms. More people will
migrate to the already overcrowded cities and these pressures will carry
Zimbabwe into worsening chaos, increasing conflict and deepening political
instability.

The second possibility is that we could try to make our new
farmers productive under the discipline of state-run central planning
authorities that depend upon the considerable involvement of the military
and other uniformed services. At best, we might see these management methods
lead to gradual improvements in output, but subsidies will remain essential
and the skills that still have to be learned could see us still floundering
in 30 years' time.

The third option is to go for large-scale farms.
For these, we will have to encourage our experienced farmers to return to
the land. They will set tough requirements, but assistance that will
certainly be denied under the first two options will undoubtedly become
available if we choose this third route. To succeed, we have only to install
the components needed to make commercial farming function as a big,
successful industry in a modernising economy.

These components are
property rights, title deeds, security of tenure and the transferability of
land in an open market. Between them, they will give the land the collateral
value the farmers need to access essential bank funding and they will give
the farmers the confidence to make long-term commitments to create a
productive and profitable, subsidy-free industry.

Zimbabwe could start
the recovery process almost immediately by re-engaging farmers who know what
to do now. With government's acceptance of the need to harness economies of
scale, the knowledge and experience of skilled farmers would soon become a
driving force in Zimbabwe's economy, and they would make possible the
creation of well-structured and viable financial and technical service
centres as well as training institutions in the small farming towns around
the country.

Special tax advantages and other incentives would be needed,
but they would be extremely cost-effective as they would bring about the
production of reasonable crops and reduced imports in the shortest possible
time. These successes would lead directly to the revitalisation of every
other kind of economic activity throughout the country. The farmers would
need a lot of assistance to get to work, but the indications are that
assistance would be readily offered by the many countries and development
agencies that want to see rapid recovery in Zimbabwe. However, no such
assistance will be forthcoming if the country remains committed to policies
that deny civil and property rights, or depend upon policies of
collectivisation and central planning.

We must first agree to work
together. Industry, commerce, banking, transport, construction, the tourism
sector and the government all need to work with the farmers because none of
these can hope to see a revival of their own fortunes until a recovery in
agricultural output has started. Once they have worked out their recovery
strategies for their separate enterprises, Zimbabwe's re-engaged skilled
farmers should be able to rely on considerable local support as well as help
from abroad.

However, the essential first step is to redirect
government's attention and policy decisions to the country's recovery and
future success. No recovery will be possible while government concentrates
on a history that cannot be changed. It is the future that matters most, and
Zimbabwe's commercial farmers could lead the way in restoring hope for a
full recovery of thecountry's economic prospects.

Pattern of abuse takes a turn for the
worse

Mail & Guardian

Christopher Dube

01 April 2007
11:59

The severity of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe has
increased in the past three years, according to a recently released Human
Rights Watch (HRW) report. State security institutions are directly involved
in the violations -- a new development since 2000, when militias and war
veterans were mainly responsible.

The report, based on a
research mission to Harare in September and October 2006, notes that police
routinely arrest pro-democracy activists, who are then "brutally beaten"
with batons and rifle butts. The state is increasingly resorting to
repressive laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the
Miscellaneous Offences Act.

Activists are arrested and
detained, sometimes for more than 48 hours -- the legal limit -- without
being charged. The conditions in which those arrested are held are "often
overcrowded and filthy, with human waste on the floor and blankets infested
with lice".

POSA provisions are used to effect arrests "that
violate the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly".
Although the law says police should be notified before any meeting, the
police interpret this as signifying permission, which they routinely
refuse.

Several hundred National Constitutional Assembly and
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) activists have been arrested in the past year
but, in most cases, they have been released without charge, or the charges
have been dropped. "The repeated cycle of arrest, detention and non-pursuit
of charges is applied to deter activists from carrying out their work," the
report says.

It notes that 63 Woza activists were
detained for three days in February last year. "While in detention the women
were . ordered to strip naked, had their underwear taken away, and were
denied sanitary pads."

The report documents "severe beatings
that involved being punched, kicked and struck with batons, beatings on the
soles of the feet, repeated banging of detainees' heads against walls and
the shackling of detainees in painful positions".

Promise
Mkwanazi, a student leader, told HRW that on one occasion he was arrested
and detained for five days at a police station in Bindura, a Zanu-PF
stronghold, where he was beaten every night. "Every night they would
threaten me and say, 'We will kill you tonight.'"

In May last
year, Alec Muchadehama, a human rights lawyer, was asked to secure the
release of 200 students who had been arrested during demonstrations at
Bindura University. "The students were badly assaulted. It was quite
systematic," he told HRW. Some of the students were held in solitary
confinement at Chikurubi, a notorius maximum security prison.

The authors of the report say the government has done little to address
issues of torture and ill-treatment of detainees in police custody, noting
that to their knowledge no one has been prosecuted or disciplined for these
violations.

The report calls upon the government to ensure
that security forces abide by Zimbabwe's obligations under international
law. It also calls upon the government to uphold the Zimbabwean
Constitution, condemn excessive use of force, and investigate allegations of
arbitrary arrest and detention.

Doctor Describes Human Rights
Horror

allAfrica.com

INTERVIEWMarch 29,
2007Posted to the web March 29, 2007

Charles Cobb Jr.Washington,
DC

Tuesday's arrest of Movement for Democratic Change leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, boosted the expressions of international outrage that began
accelerating in early March over the violence used against Tsvangirai and
other opponents of the Zimbabwe government. At that time, the MDC leader's
skull was cracked and another MDC leader, Grace Kwinje suffered deep
lacerations from police beatings. Scores of others were attacked by police.
Many of the hurt poured into the Avenues Clinic in Harare to be treated by
members of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights. Police with
pistols and batons swarmed in after them, demanding to be present during
medical examinations. The clinic's head, Dr. Douglas Gwatidzo , who is also
chairman of the human rights association ordered them out and backed them
off. Doctor Gwatidzo spoke to the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus
last Friday. He also spoke with AllAfrica.com's Charles Cobb . Although the
situation of government opponents appears to be worsening Gwatidzo continues
to wear an optimistic face. Excerpts:

Let's start immediately
with what's happening now. You are a doctor, you have been dealing in the
last few weeks with injuries to the Zimbabwe opposition. What exactly are
you seeing?

What we, I have been seeing in Zimbabwe is
torture basically by government agents, of people who were gathering to hold
peaceful prayers for the problems that Zimbabwe is going through. It was
carried on within the grounds of police stations, not on the streets. There
was no resistance whatsoever by the victims; it was all perpetrated by
police officers.

Can you give me an example or
two?

In all I attended to 64 victims from that group. The ones
that come to mind - there's four, starting with Morgan Tsvangirai who is the
leader of the MDC [Movement for Democratic Change]. Then there is Lovemore
Madhuku, the leader of the National Constitutional Assembly, and Sekai
Holland, who is also with the MDC and Grace Kwinje.

These four
suffered more severe injuries than the rest of the group. Starting with
Morgan Tsvangirai - he had a 15-centimeter laceration on the scalp which I
presume, because of its largeness, means he must have bled profusely in
police custody. He passed out. It is possible that he might have had a
concussion. He also had fractures in the left hand as well as bruises all
over the body, especially in the back.

Lovemore Madhuku was also bleeding
from a laceration on the head. Then he also had a fracture of the right
forearm. Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinje, the two ladies, received quite
severe beatings with Sekai Holland getting bruised from the shoulders down
to the upper part of the thighs. It was a continuous area of bruising
without any breaks, which means she must have been beaten on the back
several times with a blunt object. She also had fractures of the left
forearm and left leg. Grace Kwinje had severe bruising on the whole body,
but particularly on the back. She suffered quite a bit of head
trauma.

What is their condition right now?

As I
speak, Morgan Tsvangirai and Lovemore Madhuku have been discharged and I
think they have done remarkably well. The two ladies, unfortunately, have
not done so well. They need further treatment but when they tried to go to
South Africa for further treatment, they were blocked at the airport for
some flimsy reason. You know, one wonders why they were blocked. They were
not fugitives from justice. They were just going there for
treatment.

Grace Kwinje is reliving the torture that she suffered. She
sees people threatening to attack her, she gets nightmares, she is very
unstable right now. When they were brought back from the airport, they were
put in a hospital ward guarded by two police officers who were heavily armed
with assault weapons, weapons for use in the bush. That was further torture
when you are already injured and people with big guns sitting next to
you.

So there is a mental effect here as well as a physical
effect?

Yes.

At least on the two
women.

That's right. They have been fortunately flown to South
Africa after a court battle, so one hopes that they will continue to
improve.

Is this unique, or does this kind of mental stress exist
in other people who have been brutalized by
authorities?

It is not unique. Anybody who goes through
that kind of treatment you can expect them to have some mental stress or
mental problem. In Grace's case, it has become more profound than in other
cases that we have seen before. It is not unique to this
exercise.

Tell me something about how you or the organization
functions in this context. It is hard to imagine here in Washington,
DC.

That question has come from many people, including my own
colleagues who wonder why we have to do this in a tense environment. At the
end of the day, I ask myself and ask my conscience to guide me, and this is
what is guiding the rest of the members of the association.

We are
not responsible for the injuries. All we are doing is documenting, treating,
and offering help to those who have been affected. Although it may be
frightening, at the end of the day, somebody has got to know. The government
doesn't want it out but somebody has got to put a stop to this. This is what
encourages us to carry on.

Under how much threat from the
government are you and your colleagues in this
association?

No threats directly to the medical profession
yet, but if you speak to other people they have heard very direct threats to
them. One lawyer was told that if he carries on "harassing" the police, they
are going to go after him. When you hear such things, the question is: Am I
the next one to be harassed in that fashion? The nearest I came to being
threatened was when I was called to the police in 2003 to explain why I was
doing this kind of work. I told them that I was simply seeing people that
come to me with injuries that they sustain in the manner that they tell
me.

What caused establishment of the association in the first
place? As I remember, Zimbabwe has a fairly developed medical system,
trained doctors and nurses. Why an association?

One needs to
look back even into the pre-independence era and look at the training that
medical doctors get in Zimbabwe. There is no input on human rights work,
there is very little input on ethics. As we go through the training program,
you are just trained to be a scientific medical practitioner. The
[university medical] school has been producing what can be referred to as
technically proficient people who are technically able to do the work but
they have got no social relevance to the community they live in.

This
is the kind of input we are trying to get into the whole health delivery
system. As much as we are very good technically, there is the social, human
aspect of it which is lacking. This is one of the reasons we came up with an
association that actually focuses on those issues so we have a complete
human approach to medical practice.

When was the association
established? Was there some event that triggered your
decision?

It was formed in 2002, in November. It was after the
experiences that we went through from 2000 to 2002 and even beyond then into
2003; when we were seeing all these victimized people coming in during those
contested years of the referendum, the parliament elections in 2000, and
then the presidential elections in 2002. All of these victims were flocking
to the hospitals; we said look, we can't just treat these people and let
them go. Something has got to be said about it, and the question was who was
going to say something about the victims of torture. We found ourselves in
an advantageous position as doctors and medical
professionals.

Who exactly was "we"?

It was the
group of doctors that formed the association.

Who was that group?
Presumably it is not every doctor.

Those doctors who were
attending to victims of torture; everybody who attended to a victim of
torture raised those questions, and we came together as a
group.

Were you mostly in Harare?

Initially it
was mostly in Harare, and later on we grew and were joined by people from
outside Harare. It all started in Harare because that is where most of the
victims were, although the problem was countrywide.

So, a group
of you were seeing patients who had been tortured and decided that you would
have to speak up about it. Not every doctor, however. Why wouldn't every
doctor speak?

There are some among us who actually benefit from
the system as it is, although they would not come out openly and say, 'I
benefit from the system.' Some people decide just to keep quiet. Not
everybody feels so strongly that they need to speak up about human rights
work. Some people would rather "See No evil, Hear no evil, and Speak no
evil"; be technically proficient but otherwise socially
irrelevant.

But I suppose that fear is also a
factor.

Fear is a factor indeed. For me, yes, I have had to live
through fear and do something about it. When you see someone coming to you
with these injuries, the next question you ask is, am I going to be the next
victim? So you tend to sort of censor yourself as to what you do, what you
write, what you say in public. It does no good for you, however, because
your conscience is always going to nag you and ask you why you did not do
something.

Also, most patients look up to doctors, we are a last port of
call where there is a chance for something being done about their
welfare-their injuries. If somebody is seeing you and documenting your
injuries, you expect them to do something beyond just treating you; you
expect some sort of protection from that person. This is what many of my
colleagues back home are still not doing.

You said you
decided to speak up about this wrong. Did you then pick up the telephone,
knock on doors? How did you get whatever your group is
together?

To start with, when we formed the association we
actually wrote to the Minister of Health to inform him that we had formed an
association that was going to do that kind of work. We approached our
colleagues in the medical field to tell them that this is what we are doing
and we expected them to join us in doing this kind of work. Every time we
saw large numbers of people who had been brutalized we put up statements in
newspapers and interviews with the radio stations, that sort of thing. We
started holding workshops countrywide trying to educate our colleagues on
these issues. We invited international experts in the areas human rights and
health to come and tell us about their experiences. So we started sharing
ideas amongst ourselves, spreading the news right around the
country.

The Minister of Health and the rest of the
government responded how?

The only response that I remember was
a telephone call from the Minister asking about what I was doing. I told him
exactly what I was doing. At some point, I invited him to the hospital where
I work, where on that day we had seen 85 cases of torture. That was the last
that I heard from the minister.

The other thing that we did is to invite
the main medical association in the country, which is called the Zimbabwe
Medical Association. We asked them to embrace the culture of human rights.
That was rejected. We were told that we were perceived as a political group.
But as far as I'm concerned, there's politics everywhere, even in the
practice of medicine. If you are tending to a patient who has malnutrition,
for example, it is politics. You are talking about the politics of food
distribution, the availability of food, the ability to acquire food,
incomes, and that sort of thing. So it is all politics.

I'm
putting this question to you to get your response as a Zimbabwean and also
drawing on my memory of the country in its early days of independence.
Here's a country whose leadership is fairly well educated, there are a
substantial number of people in various professions who are well-educated. I
am not excusing [the last white prime minister] Ian Smith at all, but given
where Zimbabwe started on the day of independence, how does it get to a
place where doctors like yourself have to fight the government for human
rights?

That has been a puzzle for many people to try and
figure out how and why we got to where we are now. If one looks at human
behavior, when things become difficult we tend to behave in an instinctive
[manner], which is the basic animal instinct of survival at all cost. I
guess that is what has been happening. People are choosing to preserve self
rather than somebody else. If one really sits down and looks at what is
happening in Zimbabwe, I don't anyone is benefiting. In fact, we are
creating more problems for ourselves. As things get more and more difficult,
it is now each man for himself. It is survival more than anything
else.

How much of this is the fault of Robert Mugabe, the
individual who is President? How much of this is the fault of Zanu-PF, the
party that dominates politics?

It is not easy to say who is
at fault within that grouping. Many factors have brought Zimbabwe to where
it is now. Any leader in any situation would do something to ensure that
they survive in the leadership position. If you are in a group of people,
you tend to influence the thinking of other people. So it is a social club
type of situation where people want to be where they are in order to be
better than others. Also, there are others besides President Mugabe and
politicians who have benefited from this kind of situation, but
unfortunately they benefited at the expense of the majority of Zimbabweans.
You cannot blame one person; I think there are many factors that put
Zimbabwe in the way that it is.

What brings you to the United
States?

When I was at home, my brief was an invitation to speak
to what is called the Open Society Initiative and also to the Congress. The
reason as explained to me is that there are so many articles in newspapers,
articles on TV, all these stories are going around, but they have not yet
[gotten] information first-hand from either the victims or somebody else to
speak for the victims.

When you leave here
...

I am going straight back to Zimbabwe.

Are you
worried that people you have been criticizing will read these articles or
hear Voice of America where you were interviewed, or read
allAfrica.com?

I have criticized the system back home. I
have addressed people in various forums. As far as I'm concerned, the work
that I do is about issues and systems that are not working. And as far as
I'm concerned, the work that I do is about issues and systems that are not
working. I am not attacking anybody's personality. I am simply talking about
bad behavior. This is my feeling, and this is what gives me the courage to
do the kind of work that I'm doing.

Are Zimbabwean doctors
and medical personnel inclined to be like you and stay in Zimbabwe and fight
the battle, or are they inclined to leave and go to England or South Africa
or Austraila? Are you losing medical personnel?

We are. We are
losing many people. Many of my colleagues choose the easier option. The
easier options that exist are you either keep quiet and you carry on, or you
leave the country. Many have left the country, and many have decided just to
keep quiet. So, not everybody is like me. But I believe that there are -
there's quite a number who would like to be like me.

How did
you get to be like you?

I don't know. Maybe it's my personality.
I don't know how I came to be how I am, but ever since early childhood I
never accepted a situation where somebody abused another person. I couldn't
stand abuse of any kind. I would speak out, speak my mind, even in high
school.

What do you see when you look down the road for Zimbabwe,
both in the immediate and long-term future?

The crisis is
going to be with us for quite a bit. What one hopes, and what I think is.
that we're going to emerge [as] a better Zimbabwe, because I don't think
anybody would want to relive this exercise, either as a perpetrator or as a
victim. I don't think that the police who are doing this to people really
believe in what they are doing. I'm sure at some point they are going to
search in their minds and they will ask themselves why it is that they are
doing what they are doing to the people.

What about other African
countries? Would you like more from them? Are you getting support from your
own colleagues in say South Africa, or Mozambique, or Zambia - your
immediate neighbors?

Yes, South Africans are pretty good. They
write, send emails, and that sort of thing, and some of them actually call
me just to find out how I am. We've got support from the Kenyans, for
example. There's an organization called the Independent Medico-Legal Unit in
Kenya, and they give us good support. Uganda is very good. Zambia has just
come on board. We've formed a grouping [with members from] Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique, and South Africa. So there are
eight countries that form that regional grouping and we get support from all
those people.

As for the heads of state, I'm sorry to say, they have been
disappointing probably because it is an elitist club. They have let Zimbabwe
down, considering what Zimbabwe did for many of those countries like South
Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique. Zimbabwe sacrificed a lot for those
countries to be where they are today-the so-called quiet diplomacy is a
waste of time. They are just deceiving everybody else, pretending that they
are doing something when they are not doing anything..

I hope as time
goes on they are going to change their attitude. I believe a social club has
rules and regulations. You put down rules and say, look, you have to behave
in this manner for you to be a member of this club and if you misbehave you
are out. So this is what we expect from the African leaders. If they see one
of their club members misbehaving, they have to tell him openly that you are
misbehaving and if you want to remain in this club, you have got to be
better.

Analysis: Is Mugabe still in control?

By JACKSON E. KENTEBEUPI
CorrespondentWASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- The Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front has endorsed President Robert Mugabe's 2008
re-election bid.

This came as a shock to many who had hoped ZANU-PF would
act on the condemnation of Mugabe's maltreatment of opposition
leaders.

"I think it is disappointing and does not bode well for
Zimbabwe's immediate future," said Jennifer Cooke, co-director of the Africa
program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack in a statement Friday called the
nomination sad and outrageous as they had hoped better for the Zimbabwean
people.

Meanwhile, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change Morgan Tsvangirai said he was appalled by the results. Tsvangirai was
detained and beaten twice this month by government forces. British Prime
Minister Tony Blair called the situation "appalling, disgraceful and utterly
tragic for the people."

The current crisis began when local police
officials imposed a three-month ban on political rallies in the capital,
Harare, in February. Opposition parties vowed to defy the ban, thereby
triggering the violence.

"Police forces have gone house-to-house beating
people with batons, stealing possessions and accusing them of supporting the
opposition," a Human Rights Watch report said.

South African
President Thabo Mbeki has come under pressure to use his relationship with
Mugabe to resolve the crisis. He has to contend with the liberator status
Mugabe enjoys in the region. Despite this, analysts say support for Mugabe
has diminished as his people are afraid of what he would do to them if they
oppose his views.

"The government of Zimbabwe has intensified its brutal
suppression of its own citizens in an effort to crush all forms of dissent,"
Georgette Gagnon, deputy Africa director for Humans Rights Watch, said in a
report Wednesday.

Mbeki has refused to publicly criticize the 83-year-old
Mugabe, preferring instead to adopt a quiet and constructive approach to
handling issues.

On Thursday, 14 member states of the Southern African
Development Community met in Tanzania and mandated Mbeki to set up a meeting
between Mugabe and Tsvangirai to resolve the stalemate. The members
expressed solidarity with Zimbabwe.

The summit called on Britain to
"honour its commitments" to funding land reforms in Zimbabwe. Blair has
continuously insisted the issues at stake go beyond bilateral relations with
his country.

"What is not true is Britain is the only country in the
world that is desperately concerned at the plight of Zimbabweans," British
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said in an interview with the
Times.

But Zimbabwean presidential spokesman George Charamba responded to
comments by world leaders by saying his country was "under assault from
western countries that have imposed illegal sanctions on it."

Human
Rights Watch also confirmed the role Zimbabwe plays in committing serious
abuses against opposition activists and ordinary Zimbabweans.

SADC's
support raises questions about the possibility of resolving the crisis, or
to what extent African leaders are ready to alienate Mugabe to please the
West. Already, with ZANU-PF's endorsement of Mugabe's re-election bid, all
avenues for resolving the crisis appear gone. There is little the West can
do right now if the regional leaders themselves decided to adopt a lukewarm
approach.

Some regional leaders believe what is happening to Mugabe could
happen to them also and are afraid supporting the West to Zimbabwe's
detriment may result in loss of support for them.

"The big change
would have to come from the ruling party. It is hard to see where the United
States and the rest of the international community can do anything, and I
don't think travel sanctions and asset freezes would change Mugabe's
behaviour," Cooke stated.

Martha Mutisi, a Fulbright scholar from
Zimbabwe studying for her master's in conflict analysis at George Mason
University, told UPI her government spreads propaganda in high schools and
brainwashes the students into believing ZANU-PF plays a positive role in the
country.

Mutisi said students are banned from using books written by
western authors. These children have to work at the farms first before
attending school, she said.

"I can say the Zimbabwe from 1980 to the
late '90s was something to talk about. I am a product of that education. But
the Zimbabwe we are talking about now is equally different."

Current
economic downfalls, high inflation and high unemployment, she said, have all
contributed to a depletion of educational facilities at high
schools.

"When I went to school, I used to have a book for every
subject, but it is not any more. Now students have to share books," Mutisi
said.

She said the opposition in her country is too weak.

"It
needs a lot of capacity building and leadership skills. We need someone who
would be able to work well with members of the opposition to create the
Zimbabwe we want. This is contrary to the current Zimbabwe, characterized by
political violence and abuse of young people and women," she
said.

The Mugabe administration has to grapple with other concerns,
especially the hunger situation in the country. The U.N. Office for
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates Zimbabweans need about 2
million metric tons of maize to survive.

British Foreign Minister Ian
McCartney in a statement to the House of Commons recently attributed the
high dependence on food aid, the free fall in the economy and 3,000-percent
inflation to Mugabe.

With the dissatisfaction by the police and the
military, traditionally Mugabe's base, many analysts believe his days are
numbered and a massive uprising or coup d'etat may be in the
offing.

"Mugabe may eventually lose control of the military and the
police. The lower rank and file are not getting paid, they are not able to
feed their families and they are suffering from the economic catastrophe
just like the rest of Zimbabwe," Cooke said.

Mugabe - An evil genius
or a great manipulator of minds?

THE LATE Eddison Zvobgo, a one-time rival for the leadership
of Zanu PF of Robert Mugabe, is reported to have said no wife of his would
wear any cloth emblazoned with the picture of another man.

There is
no record of Julia Zvobgo, who died soon after her husband a few years ago,
ever wearing that familiar uniform of the Zanu PF women's league which
features a very large portrait of Mugabe,

Such was the rebellious nature
of the lawyer-turned-politician. Yet he was the same man who crafted what
many political analysts described as the ultimate tribute of one man to his
idol - the constitutional amendment which created the executive
president.

For many people, and not necessarily political or rocket
scientists either, that piece of legislation turned Zimbabwe, with one
stroke of the pen, from a would-be democracy into a dictatorship.

In
one famous interview, Zvobgo, in full flower as a Zanu PF loyalist or
demagogue, said his party's task, once in power, was to retain power at any
cost.To many people, this suggested the party would go to the ends of
the earth to retain power.

Which is what we are facing today: a party
which will throw everything at its opponents to retain its stranglehold on
political power.

Zvobgo was not always so pliant in terms of his loyalty
to Zanu PF. For instance, his eloquent rebuttal of the first legal draft of
Jonathan Moyo's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill has
been hailed as a classic example of one politician's loud commitment to
freedom of expression.

It sounded nowhere near like the
garden-variety platitude of a Zanu PF leader echoing his master's voice. In
spite of his latent rebellion against his party's anti-democratic policies,
it would not be unfair to say that, in the end, Zvobgo
capitulated.

He and his wife lie buried today at Harare 's controversial
Heroes Acre.The controversy has long been anchored on the perception of many
neutral observers that, quite simply, not all the people interred here
qualify as heroes by any stretch of the imagination.

Which is where
the question must be asked: if all this is a result of the evil genius of
one man, Robert Mugabe, is it inconceivable that the current political
impasse in Zanu PF will be resolved in favour of that same man?

Take his
"triumph" in Dar es Salaam, at the summit of the Southern African
Development Community (Sadc).

There must been dissenting voices to
the idea of this 83-year-old man, undoubtedly the author of one of the most
tragic economic disasters in African history, wanting to be returned to
power for another six years.

Did leaders such as Zambia 's Levy Mwanawasa
and Botswana Festus Mogae, among others, not walk out when it was decided to
let Mugabe off the hook so easily?That the Sadc leaders could so easily
fall for Mugabe's old trick of evoking the bogey of the "recolonisation" of
Zimbabwe by the British must be a tribute to either his evil genius or a
confirmation of his prodigious talent for manipulating people's minds to his
will.

For them to then add insult to injury by naming Thabo Mbeki as
their own "point man" in negotiating a meeting between Zanu PF and the
opposition parties can only stand as irrefutable testimony to their own lack
of resolve to confront the region's problems with the requisite robust
determination.

This has to be courage different from that of the old
Organisation of African Unity, the present African Union, and the
predecessor of the current Sadc.Mbeki was once named by George W. Bush
as his "point man" in the seemingly never-ending international attempts to
end the Zimbabwean imbroglio.

Mbeki is clearly contemptuous of the MDC
faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai, perhaps primarily because the former trade
unionist reminds him of the rise to power of men such as the hapless
Frederick Chiluba of Zambia or South Africa's own Cyril Ramaphosa, who is
still young enough to challenge for the job now held by Mbeki - not now but
in the near future.

Mbeki is also alleged to have shown a distinct bias
in favour of the MDC faction led by Gibson Sibanda and Welshman Ncube. For
their own sake, the two factions must disabuse the SA president of this
weird notion that the fight to replace Zanu PF as the government in Zimbabwe
is related to any elements of ethnicity.

Evil genius or not, Mugabe
has shown himself to be utterly fallible as a politician. Nobody can
interpret the events at the "people's" conference in Goromonzi as anything
other than an unmitigated disaster for Mugabe. His plan to "harmonise" the
presidential and parliamentary elections in 2010 was rejected by the
conference - although he himself tried to put a different spin on
it.

Moreover, he had indicated he would step down in 2008. Now, without
so much as a respectful pause or a valid explanation, he says he will stand
as the Zanu PF presidential candidate next year.

Even more amazingly
the party's central committee endorsed this candidature.To many observers,
all this stinks of a deal. What happened to Emmerson Mnangagwa's
presidential ambitions? Or even John Nkomo's? He had as much as thrown his
hat into the ring only a few short weeks ago.

Mugabe probably played the
Sadc card for all it was worth to disarm his opponents, again playing on
their minds. If the Sadc heads of state had accepted his reasons for
"bashing" their political opponents until they are admitted to hospital with
life-threatening injuries, what possible reason would they have for not
letting him stand for re-election?

Clearly, the ball is now in the
opposition's court. The 2008 elections will not be free or fair. None of the
amendments proposed at the Zanu PF central committee meeting relate to a
levelling of the electoral playing field.

Typically, they are all
intended to level the playing field for a Zanu PF victory. The impunity with
which the ruling party manipulates the constitution to suit its purposes
must be unprecedented, even in African political history. It's as if there
was no opposition in Parliament; in the Senate, certainly, there can be only
token resistance.

In the National Assembly, the combined opposition could
make the situation entirely embarrassing for the ruling party.

Yet,
at the end of it all, it is unimaginable that such a divided opposition
could ever offer much of a formidable challenge to a ruling party so steeped
in violence it can only be confronted on that level.

The Western
countries' reaction to the Sadc rebuff has yet to be fully appreciated. Most
of the hype in the Western media before the summit seemed to suggest that
Mugabe would be given the heave-ho.

Most of this may not been based
entirely on wishful thinking. There did seem to be, from the outside, a
fairly clear indication that the leaders would not let Mugabe come away
believing that their position had not changed, that they still believed he
was on the right track, that they didn't believe his position was
endangering their own positions, both politically and
economically.

There must have been some straight talking from some of
the leaders, perhaps even including from Mbeki himself, who cannot be
excited about the hundreds of Zimbabweans flocking into his country from the
terror unleashed on them by Mugabe's forces.

It is understandable for
the Sadc leaders not to appear to be publicly endorsing the Western
countries' stance on Mugabe, just as it would have been embarrassing for
Mugabe to announce publicly that his colleagues had berated him for his
bashing of his opponents and had asked him to leave the political scene now
before he could do even more damage.

This will be the hope of many
Zimbabweans who genuinely fear for the future of their country, not only
politically, but even more seriously, economically.The widespread fear
is that if Mugabe believes only he can salvage the country from the economic
collapse that is certain to befall it, then something ought to be done - and
one urgently - to disabuse him of this.

If Zanu PF lacks the stomach to
do this, then perhaps the people ought to assign that mission to
themselves.

Mr Mugabe is also a shrewd performer

The Economist.

Mr Mugabe is also
a shrewd performer, switching from Shona to English to send different
messages to different audiences. He exploits foreign condemnation of his
rule so effectively that Britain's government, especially, now rarely
comments on Zimbabwe. His playground jibes against the foreign leaders he
dislikes - Britain's Tony Blair is "a boy in short trousers" - provoke
laughter even among the hungry who want to see him gone. Next month his
government plans to set up a 24-hour propaganda station, News24, to counter
"negative publicity" from the West. "Nothing frightens me," said Mr Mugabe
at a meeting in Harare on March 23rd. "I make a stand and stand on principle
here where I was born, here where I grew up, here where I fought and here
where I shall die." At 83 he still works punishing hours, rarely returning
from the office until late evening, and is sharper minded than most, perhaps
all, of his many opponents. He is said to rise before dawn, well before the
rest of his young family, and to start the day with yoga exercises. He is
frugal, typically taking no breakfast but sipping tea throughout the day.
His doctors say he is in formidable good health.

Heidi Holland, the
author of a forthcoming book, "Dinner with Mugabe", who has interviewed many
relatives and colleagues of the president, sees him as sprightly and canny.
Whenever possible he eats sadza - the local maize porridge - with a relish
of vegetables, usually with his hands in the traditional way of the Shona
people. Unlike many African dictators, with their fierce appetites for
booze, meat and women, Zimbabwe's leader is teetotal, a near-vegetarian and
by all accounts faithful to Grace, his young second wife. His tailor notes
that Mr Mugabe's measurements (he likes vents at the sides of his jackets
and cannot abide double-breasted suits) have not altered in 20 years.

Zimbabwe: Bloggers invade mainstream media

Global Voices

Monday, April 2nd, 2007 @ 9:02 EDT

With the world’s eyes focused on events in Zimbabwe, the country’s
blogosphere has come of age over the last two weeks. Zimbabwe’s bloggers have
claimed their rightful place among the leading re-tellers of the Zimbabwean
story.

All of last week, popular group blog This is Zimbabwe was
the guest blog featured on Sky
News‘ Insider
Blog. In their introduction to the week long feature, Sky News explains
why Zimbabwean bloggers are a critical source of information thus;

What is life is like in a country where any sign of dissent or
defiance to the Government can result in beatings or jail? Where media is either
state-owned or regulated? And where blogging is dangerous.

All this week the Sky News Insider Blog comes from inside Zimbabwe - where
activists hoping for democracy are beaten or killed; where HIV/AIDS is rife;
where life expectancy is low.

Many of Zimbabwe’s bloggers are living the experience that the rest of the
world only hears about.

In this article titled Bloggers turn up heat on
Zimbabwe, the BBC takes notice of a variety of perspectives on the
Zimbabwean crisis coming from the country’s bloggers. Another Zimbabwean
blogger, Zimpundit
was interviewed by the BBC, and made several appearances on their World
update program.

Zimbabweans who ventured out of home this Sunday morning will have
been greeted by the front page news in The Standard of more officially
sanctioned violence by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP).

What they wouldn’t know at this juncture is that all 9 detainees bludgeoned
whilst in police custody and ordered off to hospital by the presiding
magistrate, were last night abducted around 11pm from their hospital beds. An
army doctor and a clutch of men in the ubiquitous blue uniforms of youth militia
forced the injured into prison garb and dragged them off to destinations not
known at this stage. Why? Under what authority were they acting?

Ostensibly our law enforcement agents are trying to bring the perpetrators of
a series of petrol bombing incidents to book. They must do this at 11pm at
night?

In a normal democracy, there is a separation of powers to ensure that no
single arm of governance overreaches its authority. In a normal democracy the
police would be out of line. But here they have been given carte blanche to do
whatever it takes to beat Zimbabwe’s citizens into submission.

Now, according to the public face presented by SADC’s leaders, Zimbabwe’s
democracy is functioning within the norms set by the region.

Mugabe Will Go Quietly, Says
Analyst

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

A Zimbabwe-based observer believes quiet diplomacy will ease Robert
Mugabe out of office, though it will take time.

By Norman Chitapi
in Harare (AR No. 107, 2-Apr-07)

The communiqué that emerged from the
Southern African Development Community summit last week on the political
stalemate in Zimbabwe was not as spectacular as the international community
and people in the country may have wished. Onlookers hoping for more obvious
signs of progress in resolving the Zimbabwean crisis may have regarded the
outcome of the Dar es Salaam summit as an anti-climax.

The decision
of the Central Committee of the ruling ZANU-PF to endorse President Robert
Mugabe as its candidate for the presidential election in March next year no
doubt met with the same mood of dismay.

But two things are almost certain
- Mugabe is finally ready to go, and South African president Thabo Mbeki's
"quiet diplomacy" is not dead. Indeed, Mbeki's approach could come out on
top in the complex array of diplomatic initiatives and proposals on the
table to end Zimbabwe's long drawn-out economic and political crisis, a
political analyst told IWPR.

"It is instructive that [Tanzanian]
president Jakaya Kikwete decided that the SADC heads of state should
confront Mugabe privately," said the political scientist, who is based at a
university in Zimbabwe and did not want to be named. "They have dealt with
Mugabe for a long time and know he is congenitally stubborn. He will not
tolerate being publicly humiliated."

He said a public spat would simply
have played into Mugabe's hands, so the SADC leaders did right to massage
his ego and talk to him quietly. He said Mbeki, whom the SADC tasked with
leading the mediation effort from now on, was unlikely to change this
approach.

"The major difference is that whereas in the past it was almost
entirely a personal initiative, now the same 'quiet diplomacy' has the force
of the region," said the analyst.

He said SADC did not have a better
option, since threats of action were not really available to Zimbabwe's
neighbours.

"They may quietly hint at economic embargoes, but will not
dare push Mugabe into a corner where he might call their bluff. The
consequences would be worse than what we are talking about at the moment,"
said the analyst.

Another factor that informs Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy"
is the need to appear to be working by consensus rather than
confrontation.

"It is not cowardice but a cultural thing. You don't try
to browbeat a neighbour simply because he is failing to run his family. You
sit down over a calabash of beer and discuss issues almost informally. It is
almost certain you will achieve your goals without provoking resentment," he
said.

At 83, Mugabe is the oldest ruling president in the region and
possibly in the world. He is the last of the first generation of African
liberation-movement leaders still alive, besides Kenneth Kaunda of
Zambia.

The analyst said the generation gap between Mugabe and his
ZANU-PF colleagues made it virtually impossible for them to go for open
confrontation. Mugabe was fully aware that this cultural factor worked his
favour, and took complete advantage of it.

The political scientist
said there was no contradiction between the SADC quietly pressing Mugabe to
go and his party at home endorsing him as its candidate next year. He said
this was just part of the plea bargaining process.

Mugabe has said he
will not leave power as long as his party is a "shambles", and believes he
is best placed to lead the epic confrontation with the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change, MDC.

The analyst said the SADC leaders may have
"allowed" Mugabe to serve out his term and even stand for election again
next year.

If he loses, he will have to leave and endure the humiliation.
"If he wins, he will probably serve two or three years as part of his 2010
project and then resign," said the analyst.

In the latter scenario,
Mugabe would be killing two birds with one stone - staying on for a couple
more years yet avoiding the risk of alienating supporters of Vice-President
Joice Mujuru, who are opposed to the project.

"Once he resigns, Mujuru
will then take over," said the analyst, noting that this explained a
proposal made at the Central Committee meeting that when a sitting president
resigns or dies, "parliament will sit as an electoral college to elect his
successor". Assuming ZANU-PF wins a majority in the next legislative
election, it will be in a position to dominate the selection of a successor,
obviating the need to call a national election.

The political scientist
said these factors explained why there was no acrimony at the Central
Committee meeting, because the Mujuru faction, while opposed to the 2010
project, is set to benefit from a Mugabe victory in 2008, so a possible rift
in the party will be avoided .

"Mugabe's greatest fear is to leave behind
a legacy of a divided ZANU-PF," said the analyst.

This was evident
when Mugabe used his closing remarks to urge party members to resolve their
differences amicably and stop briefing against one another.

"Whatever the
nature of the differences between us or quarrels we have, it is completely
wrong to allow them to go into the public arena either through publicity or
litigation," said Mugabe said.

"I happen to know that quite a lot of
material aimed at 'exposing' so and so or harming his or her integrity is
being surreptitiously published in the opposition press by some of
us."

The president said the "hostile press" was being kept in business by
party leaders who leaked "information that should be kept a
secret".

He was clearly referring to the rivalry between former army
general Solomon Mujuru and Rural Housing Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. The
latter is also suing national party chairman John Nkomo for
defamation.

Meanwhile, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai may have given the
president further ammunition by threatening to boycott the 2008 election
next year. The political scientist said instead of talking of boycotts, the
opposition should keep up the pressure on Mugabe by agitating for electoral
reform.

"They should be getting people ready to vote instead of confusing
them as they have done in the past, threatening to boycott elections and
then changing their minds at the last minute," he said. "Moreover, any talk
of boycott weakens Mbeki's hand in trying to resolve the crisis, when they
[the opposition] should be helping him."

MDC leader pushes for single candidate in next year's
poll

Zim Online

Tuesday 03 April 2007

By Patricia
Mpofu

HARARE - The leader of one of the factions of Zimbabwe's main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Arthur Mutambara yesterday
called on the opposition to field a single candidate to challenge President
Robert Mugabe in next year's presidential election.

Mugabe, silenced
opponents within his ruling ZANU PF party who were pushing for him to step
down, to emerge as the party's candidate in the presidential poll expected
around March 2008.

Political analysts say the opposition probably has its
greatest chance next year to defeat Mugabe, who they say is at his weakest,
with most Zimbabweans blaming him for plunging the country into its worst
ever economic crisis while he has also become increasingly unpopular within
ZANU PF.

Mutambara, a prominent academic and leader of the smaller
faction of the MDC, said the opposition party could best take advantage of
"the momentum that has gathered against Mugabe" if it sponsored one
candidate.

"It is our submission that national interest should take
precedence over narrow and selfish interest," said Mutambara.

He
added: "The democratic forces should not allow ZANU PF to reinvent,
regenerate and succeed itself.. it is critical to maintain and leverage the
momentum that has gathered against Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. All democratic
forces must close ranks."

Mutambara said his faction fully supported
today's stay-away called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
that has also been backed by the larger faction of the MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai.

The ZCTU has called on workers across the country to boycott
work today and tomorrow to protest against poor and worsening living
conditions.

The labour body said further job actions would be called
after every three months until the government addressed the myriad of ills
bedevilling the tottering economy.

Mutambara said an all-inclusive
and cohesive united front of all democratic forces was essential to give
Zimbabwe a fresh start. "Our nation needs the injection of a new value
system, a different political culture and redemptive institutional
framework."

On the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit,
which publicly backed Mugabe, Mutambara said the mere fact that the regional
group had met specifically to discuss Zimbabwe was itself an acknowledgement
and an acceptance that Mugabe had failed to run the affairs of his
country.

"More importantly, the SADC emergency summit clearly recognised
that the on-going economic and political crisis is both unsustainable and a
threat to regional stability. This is unprecedented," Mutambara
said.

Many observers have criticised SADC leaders for not publicly
condemning repression by Harare and their refusal to pressure - at least
publicly - Mugabe to quit power when his term expires next year. -
ZimOnline

The region gangs up on Mugabe

The Southern
African Development Community (SADC) is placing unprecedented pressure on
President Robert Mugabe to quit office and pave the way for peace and
stability at home and within the region.

Mugabe is now facing
a war on two fronts: with SADC heads of state at the regional level and a
divided ruling Zanu-PF party at home. All are pondering the political
implications of his continued stay in office.

At the regional
level, Zimbabwe's close allies are closing ranks and making it abundantly
clear that political reforms are essential. This week Angolan Deputy Prime
Minister Aguinaldo Jaini told the media that "the resolution of the Angolan
conflict provided lessons to other African countries, particularly Harare,
if it was willing to listen".

Jaini added that the
deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe is now a barrier to "greater regional
integration, restore[ation] of peace and stability".

Meanwhile, during his visit to Zimbabwe two weeks ago, Tanzanian President
Jayaya Kikwete made it clear to Mugabe that SADC, as well as crucial SADC
allies such as the European Union, are fed up with Harare.

Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe's former spin doctor, now an independent MP, says this
is the first time SADC has taken a proactive stance on Zimbabwe. "It's the
first time that the SADC has successfully put Zimbabwe on the agenda. Once
you find yourself on that agenda, then you are simply confirming that you
have security problems back home ... you are already knocking on the doors
of a similar agenda at the United Nations."

Despite
resistance from South Africa, the United States and the EU are insisting
that the Zimbabwe issue should be discussed by the UN Security Council.
South Africa, which chaired the Security Council for the month of March, has
kept Zimbabwe off the agenda.

This week's hastily convened
SADC meeting -- the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo was also
on the agenda -- came only a day before a crucial Zanu-PF party meeting at
which Mugabe had hoped to gain support for a renewed presidential bid in
2008.

"It is genius for the SADC to have this meeting ahead
of the [Zanu-PF] central comittee meeting. Whatever agenda Mugabe had [to
extend his presidential term] will be put on hold, if not removed
completely," Moyo said. "Mugabe will never be removed from the SADC agenda
until he has solved his problems back home."

"The SADC
will remind him his time is up, politely, and he may have to think again
when he meets his party's central committee," says an insider within
Zanu-PF, who believes regional pressure is vital if Mugabe is to
quit.

Political analysts in Zimbabwe agree that SADC pressure
could affect the current crisis. "SADC this time around will achieve
something because South Africa is desperate. It doesn't want the 2010 World
Cup disturbed," says Dr John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe political
science lecturer.

"If the SADC doesn't achieve anything,
South Africa will be in bad shape. So they are fighting collectively,
pressuring Mugabe to stop violence," he added.

"[South
African President Thabo] Mbeki will fight for dialogue first -- between the
opposition and Zanu-PF -- and then Mugabe's exit by 2008," Makumbe
added.

According to sources briefed about the talks between
Kikwete and Mu-gabe, Kikwete told Mugabe that the SADC was concerned about
the beatings and torture of opposition activists. Kikwete and Mbeki want the
August SADC summit in Zambia to find a conclusive resolution to the question
of succession in Zimbabwe.

A bemused Mugabe blamed
opposition forces for fanning political violence, but implored SADC "to turn
a blind eye to Western interests to effect a regime change in his country,"
the same source said.

Last week, South Africa pushed its own
diplomatic initiatives to a new level, gathering intelligence and other
information from various Zimbabwean players present in Johannesburg. The
information was expected to guide SADC leaders during their meeting this
week.

Last week, South African foreign affairs officials met
the secretaries general of the two wings of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), Professor Welshman Ncube and Tendayi
Biti.

According to a Zimbabwean opposition source, senior
South African officials, including the Director General in the Presidency,
Frank Chikane, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad and others were
locked in meetings for six hours to "obtain the views of the MDC
collectively, and gather comprehensive information on the root cause of the
problem", to "see how they can resolve the crisis to the satisfaction of
everyone for the restoration of normalcy".

The opposition
leaders are understood to have taken the officials to task for not taking an
aggressive public stance against the deteriorating political
situation.

But the source said the South Africans complain
that their position is being misunderstood, that to "remain engaged and have
access to all sides, they must never alienate any of the various sides", and
that condemning Mugabe would provoke him to "hit back".

South African is said to be planning separate meetings with Mugabe and
various other players involved in the dispute, including the clergy.

Zimbabwean
exiles say halt aid to Southern Africa

Zimbabwean exiles in the United
Kingdom have called for aid to Southern Africa to be suspended because of
the failure of the regional body to stand up for human rights in
Zimbabwe.

The call comes from the Zimbabwe Vigil which has been
demonstrating outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for the
past four and a half years in protest at human rights abuses.

Leaders
of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Tanzania last
week to discuss the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe but unexpectedly
failed to make any public criticism of President Mugabe's regime. Instead
they urged the lifting of the targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies
which prevent them visiting the European Union, the United States and some
other countries.

The Vigil is to run a petition calling on all countries
in the European Union to suspend government to government aid to the 14 SADC
members until they observe their commitment to promote good governance in
the region.

"Our supporters are very angry", said Ephraim Tapa, a founder
member of the Vigil. "All we see is political immaturity from our
neighbours. The last thing we want to do is to hurt our brothers and sisters
in Southern Africa but we must drive home to their hypocritical governments
their obligation to promote the good governance they have all signed up to.
We do all we can to encourage humanitarian aid but people here question
whether it is a good use of resources that Malawi pays guards to stop people
defacing signs on the new highway Malawi has named after Robert
Mugabe."

Mr Tapa went on to say "We know this is controversial but we are
desperate. The Southern African leaders must be made to understand that they
cannot support tyranny and brutality without consequences. Our gloves are
off."

The text of the new petition reads: "We record our dismay at the
failure of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to help the
desperate people of Zimbabwe at their time of trial. We urge the UK
government, and the European Union in general, to suspend government to
government aid to all 14 SADC countries until they abide by their joint
commitment to uphold human rights in the region."

The Vigil's main
petition calling on the UN to intervene on human rights in Zimbabwe has been
signed by more than 100,000 people passing by the Vigil on Saturdays (not by
just a click on the email).

Vigil
co-ordinatorsThe Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London,
takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross
violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil
which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored,
free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk

How Mugabe Made a Basket Case Out of Zimbabwe

Come 2008, Zimbabwe's Robert Gabriel
Mugabe (83) will again stand as ZANU-PF's presidential candidate, after
being in power for twenty seven years.

Should Mugabe win (which is
likely, going by the record of Zimbabwe's fraudulent elections) and last the
distance, he will celebrate his 90th birthday in office and 32 years in
power.

Interestingly, the endorsement by ZANU-PF's Central Committee
happened at a time when speculation was rife about factions developing
within the party motivated by a desire to bring an end to Mugabe's reign.
Clearly, ZANU-PF lacks the stomach to rein him in.

Earlier a meeting
of the South African Development Community (SADC) states was convened in
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis. SADC was expected to
reprimand Mugabe for the brutality visited on the opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and to persuade Mugabe to start thinking about leaving the stage
to stem the retrogression currently suffered by his country. A joint
communiqué indicated that he instead got support and not
condemnation.

Optimists, who thought that for once a section of
African leaders would divorce themselves of the tired notion of 'non
interference,' are now much wiser. Currently as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and
Madeleine Albright put it in an article "Zimbabwe which was formerly a food
basket, has now become a basket case!"

At 1,700% the inflation rate is the
highest in the world and life expectancy at 36 years one of the lowest. The
figures for health, housing and education are equally
depressing.

Zimbabwe is a classic product of an African nation with an
adamant leader who is well past his sell by date.

As exemplified by
most African nations, twenty years is time long enough to judge whether a
leader is the type who will swim or sink and not many have passed the test.
Those who have trudged along have in more ways than one been found wanting
as far as good governance and national prosperity is
concerned.

Zimbabwe is a relatively 'young' nation having got its
independence 'only' 27 years ago in 1980. Most African states were born
twenty years earliers. The occurrences in Zimbabwe today are what most of
Africa witnessed at the end of the 70's and during the 80's -- the so-called
"lost decade."

Long-standing leaders who had led their countries right
from independence like Mugabe started losing their grip on power eventually
leading to regime change. Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania, Kamuzu Banda of Malawi, Felix Houphet Boigny of Cote d'Voire being
examples.

The 'advantage' twenty years ago was that when the
international community and media talked about sad news from Africa;
including hopeless economies, wars, drought, famine and military
dictatorships, the examples were too many to afford the highlighting of a
particular country.

Unlike today, there were hardly any countries that
had made remarkable steps towards democratisation and successful economic
reformation and liberalisation (pretentious or otherwise).When the
democratic upheavals of the late 80's and early 90's that were christened
"the winds of change" were taking place, Zimbabwe survived for three
reasons.

Because it had just got its independence Mugabe was still riding
high on the crest of a viable economy that he had inherited from the white
minority government of Ian Smith.

Secondly, he had the gift of the
benefit of doubt and was given time by his people to deliver on the promises
of the war of independence.

Thirdly, Mugabe was seen as the only leader
who would make good the flaws that were created by the unfair distribution
of land by the colonialists.

Now that Mugabe is very unpopular, he is
using this popular land question as his life line but may inadvertently be
his downfall. The white farmers and many in the international community
especially the British see aspects of racism and blatant abuse of property
rights in the whole exercise and are using their influence to isolate
Mugabe's regime.

The redistribution effort has been hampered by
corruption meaning that most of the land moved from the hands of the 'hated'
whites to the hands of equally hated Mugabe cronies.

Most of the new
land owners are yet to find their bearing in the world of commercial farming
at a time when the economy is overtaken by financial break down. Resultant
food shortages only make Mugabe's regime more unpopular and hence the need
to assert his authority with the help of violence.

Because African
leaders, his own party and the opposition do not appear to have what it
takes to move Mugabe out of the way, one only hopes that his poor judgment
as seen in the tactless handling of the land question will eventually lead
him to cause his own downfall.

Exodus from poverty and terror

The Statesman, Ghana

Alec Russell ,
03/04/2007

Published 02 April 2007

As Zimbabwe descends into
chaos, its border has become the focus of the fastest-growing movement of
people in sub-Saharan Africa.

From a distance the khaki rag looked like
just another piece of rubbish blown against the barbed-wire border fence.
Beneath it, on the ground, were a couple of sticks in the shape of an arrow
pointing away from the South African/Zimbabwe frontier.

Major Neels
Smit, a South African border patrol officer, stopped his vehicle and walked
over to the fence. Yanking at the rag, he discovered it had been carefully
knotted to the wire. He peered at the lowest of the coils of wire that make
up the fence.

Then, with the gentlest of taps, he kicked open a
"trapdoor". A minute later he had discovered 28 breaches in a 40-yard
stretch. "The only way you can stop this is when troops deploy at arm's
length apart," said a colleague. "They are coming like never
before."

When, on 21 March, President Levy Mwana wasa of Zambia compared
Zimbabwe to the Titanic and warned that people were "jumping out in a bid to
save their lives", Harare reacted with outrage.

Two nights later,
state television beamed footage of empty roads around Beitbridge, the main
border post, and denounced media reports of an exodus as western propaganda.
The state cameraman must have worked hard - or never swivelled his lens to
the right or left - to secure such unrepresentative footage.

Normally
the border region does indeed have a sleepy feel, but now, as Zimbabwe
descends into economic chaos, the area around Beitbridge has become the
focus of probably the fastest-growing movement of people in sub-Saharan
Africa.

Joseph Muleya works as a ranger on a game farm just ten miles
south of the Limpopo River. For more than a decade, he has gone on pre-dawn
patrols, but in the past year his game-viewings have suddenly become much
more bizarre. Every day he almost literally stumbles on groups of Zimbabwean
refugees.

He has been shot at; he has had a bicycle stolen at gunpoint;
ten days ago he came across a group of more than a hundred men, women and
children; he has also come across scenes of utter misery. Late last year, he
found the body of a Zimbabwean woman under a bush, with the body of a
two-year-old child a few yards away.

"Last year, it was a question of
finding one or two every now and then," he said. "Now I find them every
night and they are many." Moments later, he jumped off his Jeep, shining a
powerful game torch under a bush. There were Isaac and Nathan, eyes blinking
in the light.

The two young Zimbabweans in Gap T-shirts had crossed the
border that same night. Clearly exhausted, they said they had not eaten for
two days. "There are no jobs in Zimbabwe," said Isaac. "We used to work as
electricians.

Now we are unemployed. We were thinking of starting a
business here." So were they supporters of Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of
the embattled opposition Movement for Democratic Change? "It is difficult to
support him," Isaac said simply. "The police are everywhere."

The
figures - and rate of increase - are extraordinary. Last year, the army
arrested 72,000 people illegally crossing the border in the frontier zone.
The year before, they caught about 48,000. The year before that they caught
just over 26,000.

And they reckon they capture only a tiny fraction
of the people flooding south. South African officials estimate the number of
Zimbabweans living in South Africa at three million.

That seems on
the high side, but what is not in doubt is that with inflation in Zimbabwe
predicted to reach 5,000 per cent this year, the exodus is gathering
pace.

For South Africa, this poses a huge challenge. While pursuing its
policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards President Robert Mugabe"s increasingly
despotic regime, the government has been reluctant to speak out about the
situation on the border.

Indeed, many in the security services
believe the government has sought to play down the influx in order to avoid
having to admit that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe. This position, however,
is becoming untenable.

It is no longer just Musina, the nearest town to
Beitbridge, that is swamped by Zimbabweans. Several of the townships and
squatter camps around Johannesburg, 340 miles to the south, are also showing
signs of strain - and xenophobia.

Nowhere is this more apparent than
in Diepsloot, an informal settlement north-west of Johannesburg. Residents
talk of Zimbabweans filling the clinics, of mounting tension between locals
and newcomers.

It is the fallout from this influx that appears to be
stirring the government in Pretoria to become more involved in searching for
a solution. President Mbeki's inner circle was this week given a dire
assessment of the consequences for South Africa of a complete collapse of
Zimbabwe. "It would be catastrophic for us," said one adviser.

All
the while, the flood gathers pace. In Zimbabwe, there are villages that
increasingly resemble the empty communities in Mexico whose young people
have relocated across the Rio Grande.

The South African army keeps
the immigrants it man ages to catch in a small camp by the border before
sending them back. This past week, a group of detainees were debating
Zimbabwe's prospects and their own plans.

"It is impossible to survive
there," said Cleophas, who worked at a timber yard until he was laid off two
years ago. Since then, his old wages have become meaningless when set
against 1,700 per cent inflation. "I didn't have anything to give my
children."

Another detainee, in a blue T-shirt, piped up: "You have to
take a paper bag now to carry your wages." And a third, wearing an Arsenal
strip, said: "He is very tough, Mugabe.

You can't resist him. We've
been patient. We thought something might happen. But now . . ." No one
wanted to talk politics; most sat in silence. Then another load of
immigrants arrived including several young women with babies.

So what
would they do when they were returned to Zimbabwe? They waited until the
soldiers were out of earshot. Then they pointed to the river and mimed a
border crossing.

They will be back. And the chances are that next
time they will make it. Alec Russell is the southern Africa correspondent of
the Financial Times